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75,769,715 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C44H34O21 | The molecular formula C44H34O21 may refer to:
Theasinensin F
Theasinensin G | C44H34O21 | [
"Chemistry"
] | 25 | [
"Isomerism",
"Set index articles on molecular formulas"
] |
75,769,756 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C16H18O3 | {{DISPLAYTITLE:C16H18O3}}
The molecular formula C16H18O3 may refer to:
EBOB
Pelubiprofen | C16H18O3 | [
"Chemistry"
] | 37 | [
"Isomerism",
"Set index articles on molecular formulas"
] |
75,770,177 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trigeminal%20nerve%20stimulation | Trigeminal nerve stimulation (TNS) or external Trigeminal nerve stimulation (eTNS) is a non-invasive, non-medication therapy for Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder approved in the United States by the FDA for the treatment of ADHD in children ages 7–12. It is also used off-label to treat ADHD in adults.
External trigeminal nerve stimulation (eTNS) is similar to transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), a treatment for chronic pain. A small device supplies electricity to electrodes that are placed on the skin. The device is able to modulate the intensity and frequency of electrical impulses delivered to the nerve endings in the skin.
There is ongoing investigation and research into the use of trigeminal nerve stimulation to treat other psychiatric disorders, such as depression and PTSD.
References
Physical psychiatric treatments
Electrotherapy
Neurophysiology
Neuropsychology
Neurotechnology
Treatment of depression
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder management
Medical devices
Bioelectromagnetics | Trigeminal nerve stimulation | [
"Biology"
] | 212 | [
"Medical devices",
"Medical technology"
] |
75,771,403 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate%20Defiance | Climate Defiance is a climate movement organization in the United States which uses direct action protests to demand stronger climate change mitigation policies. The organization mostly focuses on protesting Democratic officials, because they hold the White House and Senate.
Climate Defiance disrupted the 2023 White House Correspondents Dinner, an event for Exxon CEO Darren Woods, and the speaking events of several powerful Democratic officials, including Tommy Beaudreau, Pete Buttigieg, Jennifer Granholm, Amy Klobuchar, Joe Manchin, Jerome Powell, and Ali Zaidi. After these actions, the group received a private meeting with White House adviser John Podesta.
Climate Defiance is supported by Margaret Klein Salamon's Climate Emergency Fund, which provides about half of Climate Defiance's budget.
See also
Extinction Rebellion
The Climate Mobilization
Margaret Klein Salamon
References
External links
Climate change organizations based in the United States
Emissions reduction
Environmental policies organizations
Political organizations based in the United States
Politics of climate change | Climate Defiance | [
"Chemistry"
] | 195 | [
"Greenhouse gases",
"Emissions reduction"
] |
75,771,425 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christoph%20Merten | Christoph Merten (born 1976) is a German bio-engineer and entrepreneur; currently professor at EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne). He is an adjunct scientist at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in Lausanne. His research focuses on developing biomedical microfluidics technologies for drug discovery, diagnostics, and personalized therapy in cancer research.
Career
Christoph studied biochemistry and organic chemistry at the Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany. He did his PhD at the Paul Ehrlich Institute in Langen, Germany before having a first postdoctoral research position at the Medical Research Council, Laboratory for Molecular Biology, in Cambridge, UK.
In 2005, he started a second postdoctoral appointment at the Institut de science et d'ingénierie supramoléculaires (ISIS) in Strasbourg, France. He focused on droplet-based microfluidics for cellular assays and started his research group in 2007. From 2010 to 2019, he served as a group leader at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, where he established high-throughput droplet-based microfluidic screening platforms.
In 2019, he was named associate professor of bioengineering at EPFL and currently leads the laboratory for biomedical microfluidics (LBMM) within the School of Engineering. He also holds an adjunct scientist position at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research's Lausanne branch.
Entrepreneurship
In 2017 he became the scientific founder of Velabs Therapeutics, a microfluidic antibody discovery company now operating as Veraxa Biotech. He is also leading the TheraMe! consortium, developing microfluidic technologies for personalized cancer treatment. This work resulted in the foundation of the EPFL-based Startup TheraMe! in 2023.
Research
His laboratory currently uses droplet-based approaches to address questions related to personalized medicine, biological screening assays, and genomics. In the context of cancer therapy, this work has allowed cost-efficient screening of numerous drug combinations on tumor samples issued from patient biopsies, enabling rapid determination of personalized treatment regimens for cancer patients.
Selected publications
References
External links
Living people
Goethe University Frankfurt alumni
Academic staff of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
21st-century German scientists
Bioengineers
Year of birth missing (living people) | Christoph Merten | [
"Engineering",
"Biology"
] | 468 | [
"Bioengineers",
"Biological engineering"
] |
75,771,651 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descent-based%20slavery | Descent-based slavery is a form of slavery based on the assignment of a so-called hereditary "slave status". Although slavery has been officially abolished by law, stigmatisation and discrimination based on genealogy persist locally.
This phenomenon, rooted in history, still affects many people today, particularly in West Africa (Mali, Niger, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Senegal). Slavery by descent is present in most of the ethnic groups of the Western Sahel, particularly in the Tuareg, Moorish, Hausa, Soninke and Fulani communities.
"Slave" status is generally transmitted through the maternal line. Even after the official abolition of slavery by most of the colonial powers in Africa and right up to the present day, many people are still considered to be "descendants of slaves", on the grounds that one of their ancestors was enslaved.
However, this group often also includes people who were never literally enslaved in the past, but who were assigned the social status of foreigners by village chiefs when they arrived, and who were only allowed to marry descendants of enslaved people, so that these "foreign migrants" are socially inserted into the "descendants of slaves" status group.
Definition
Anti-Slavery International defines descent-based slavery as the situation where an individual is "born into slavery" because their ancestors were captured and enslaved and their families have "belonged" to "slave-owning" families ever since.
In terms of terminology, it is important to prefer the terms "enslaved", "considered to be a descendant of a slave", "locally assigned the status of a descendant of a slave", in order to avoid essentializing these categories, which are social rather than biological constructs. The activists themselves are fighting against the use of the term "slave".
History
The phenomena of slavery and internal trafficking preceded the transatlantic slave trade, although the latter reinforced the importance of trafficking in West African economies. People captured during wars or raids were enslaved, kept locally or sold to finance other wars.
In the 19th century, the phenomenon of internal slavery in West Africa grew in importance, with the increase in local conflicts, while the outlet for the Atlantic slave trade gradually closed as a result of the transatlantic abolitions. The abolitions and the fall in demand for slaves outside the continent made access to slave ownership possible for many sections of the population. The conversion of West Africa into a plantation economy, the "legitimate trade", particularly in coastal areas during the colonial period, relied essentially on the labour of enslaved people.
As "slave" status was mainly transmitted through the maternal line, this led to the creation of an endogamous class that could be exploited at will by the local elites. Freedom could be bought back, but this was rare. Some victims of descent-based slavery do not have ancestors who were captured and reduced to slavery, but were assigned this status after migrating to a new community. The children of a "slave" concubine and a "noble" man are generally free if the father recognises them, but do not have a status strictly equivalent to that of the children of free wives.
The internal slave trade was officially abolished during French colonisation of French West Africa in 1905, which led a number of slaves to leave their former "masters ". The history of descent-based slavery is linked to the history of internal migration, whether forced or voluntary, and whether or not it led to emancipation. Nevertheless, abolition did not always lead to the actual emancipation of those still assigned "slave" status: the colonial authorities only partially applied the new laws, and practices of slavery by descent continued in a more or less concealed form.
Contemporary situation
Practices directly linked to the slave-owning past are still perpetrated today and form part of what is known as descent-based slavery.
These practices can be found in most communities in the Sahel (Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Sudan and Senegal).
People considered locally as "descendants of slaves" face discrimination and abuse. They are sometimes forced to work without pay, denied access to education and civil status documents, and excluded from public office.
Refusal to accept the status of "slave" in the face of those who consider themselves to be their "masters" leads to sanctions in the villages where the people concerned live: victims of descent-based slavery who refuse their status are exposed to physical violence, and may be denied access to essential resources such as water, land and necessary consumer goods (embargo).
Slavery by descent consequently leads to forced migration, which is not very visible and is invisible. Historically, these migrations have accompanied resistance and movements to escape slavery, to found autonomous communities, or to cities or neighbouring countries.
In the Kayes region, which has been particularly hard hit by this phenomenon, more than 3,000 victims of descent-based slavery have had to leave their villages since 2018. Until 2021, the Malian authorities did not recognise the existence of victims of descent-based slavery in the region, and considered that the people concerned were simply taking part in "traditional" cultural practices, which had to be respected in order to preserve social cohesion.
Slavery by descent is a "public secret" in the villages concerned, in a society that is generally reluctant to listen to what the victims have to say. The "ideology of slavery", which can be defined as "a cultural system that justifies and legitimises a social order based on a social hierarchy inherited from slavery" persists today, prompting certain members of the political and economic elite who might be categorised as "descendants of slaves" to remain silent about their origins. People considered locally as "descendants of slaves" are particularly vulnerable to other forms of modern slavery. The practices of " fostering " (placing a child in the care of another family), marriage and domestic service may conceal situations of modern slavery under the guise of legality.
Legislation
Legislation explicitly criminalising practices linked to descent-based slavery has existed in Niger since 2003 and in Mauritania since 2015. The Guinean constitution of 2020 prohibits slavery, human trafficking and forced labour (article 7), but these provisions were not included in the transitional charter of 27 September 2021.
There is no specific law criminalising descent-based slavery in Mali, although the Constitution affirms the equality of all Malian nationals and the country is a signatory to several international conventions against slavery and trafficking (guaranteeing the right to life and freedom). Since 2006, a coalition of Malian human rights organisations has been lobbying for the adoption of a law criminalising descent-based slavery. A draft law was drawn up but never passed, being relegated to second place in 2016 by other government priorities, notably security. The absence of such a law makes it difficult to appeal to the courts, not to mention other judicial malfunctions and corruption. A number of anti-slavery activists and organisations also stress the importance of adopting such a law, even though they know that its effective application is likely to be long and complex.
Resistance to descent-based slavery
Resistance to descent-based slavery and its consequences has existed throughout the history of this phenomenon, leading in particular to the foundation of free autonomous communities. The village of Bouillagui, in the Kayes region, is a good example. In the same region, and particularly in and around the town of Kayes, people who have fled slavery are called "djambourou", which is synonymous with "Freedom". The origins of this term are unclear. It is possible that it comes from the Wolof term "diambour", which means "free peasant". This term would have travelled to West Africa with the French colonial conquest of Mauritania, Mali and as far as the Ivory Coast from Senegal. It would have referred to the inhabitants of the villages of freedom, founded by the French colonial administration to take in slaves fleeing their masters, but systematically recruited for forced labour by the colonial authorities. Today, the term has acquired a pejorative connotation in Kayes (Mali), denigrating these people as "vagabonds", "unattached", "uncivilised", "rebels to authority". When used to insult a female person, it even means "prostitute".
The traumas associated with exile, family separation and the persistence of stigma into contemporary generations fuel the fight against descent-based slavery. Various strategies exist to combat the stigma attached to victims of descent-based slavery: these strategies range from concealing the assigned status (often facilitated by migration) to challenging it.
Social movements led by people assigned "slave" status now exist in almost all the countries of French-speaking West Africa. The Soninke diaspora is heavily involved in the fight against descent-based slavery, notably through the "Gambana" movement (a slogan meaning "equality"), operating mainly in Senegal, Gambia, Mauritania and Mali. Social networks play a decisive role in the fight against descent-based slavery. The Gambana WhatsApp groups are currently followed by more than 70,000 people in Africa and the diaspora. In Mali, several associations are fighting against descent-based slavery, including RMFP Gambana (Rassemblement malien pour la Fraternité et le Progrès), which is the national branch of the international Ganbanaaxun Fedde movement. Major demonstrations against slavery took place in Kayes in 2020 (in reaction to the death of four Malian activists, beaten to death on the orders of local slave elites in Djandjoumé, western Mali), and in 2022 following the murder of Djogou Sidibé, who had refused to be assigned "slave status". The community of Malian bloggers also launched the #MaliSansEsclaves campaign in 2019.
Other associations are active elsewhere in West Africa, including Semme Allah in Benin, SOS Esclaves in Mauritania, Timidria in Niger, etc.
Gender, age and descent-based slavery
The majority of those enslaved before abolition were women, and the majority left their "masters'" villages after abolition. Female and juvenile labour was therefore in great demand, particularly among "noble" women, who turned to the family network. The system of confiage expanded in the twenty years following abolition. Questions of child custody after the father's death, or the recovery of a former "slave" child, were often submitted to the courts, because of the economic stakes involved. The emancipation of slaves also meant regaining control over their own families, which the courts rarely guaranteed in the absence of financial compensation to the former "master". The boundaries between trust, pledging one person for the debts of another, child labour and forced marriage became permeable and perpetuated the hierarchies of slavery.
Young girls from poor families who have been assigned the status of "slaves" are still often victims of forced marriage under the wahaya system (Islamic concubinage): they are not considered legitimate wives and suffer social isolation, economic and sexual exploitation (as in the case of the movement of concubines from Niger to northern Nigeria). There is sometimes a return migration to the region of origin, but the socio-economic situation of these women generally remains precarious.
Those considered as "slaves" are particularly vulnerable to modern slavery (the case of "petites bonnes" in Mali).
Islam and descent-based slavery
People assigned "slave" status may face restrictions on their practice of the Muslim religion: the widowhood of a woman considered to be a "slave" is shorter; fathers of families are not allowed to slaughter animals for the feast of Tabaski and must butcher the animal in the family of those considered to be their former "masters".
Certain documents signed by the kadis ratified the liberation of a person categorised as a "slave" (manumission). In a pre-abolitionist Islamic context, manumission was a legal form of emancipation. Manumission gave access to certain Islamic privileges, such as receiving a new name and passing on an inheritance, but established a clientelistic relationship between the former "master" and the former "slave", who did not become free in the same way as the former master, but rather "freed". It was therefore not a question of total emancipation. As the colonial decrees abolishing slavery were only weakly applied by the administrations and courts, slavery and the practice of manumission persisted in certain areas. Recourse to manumission most often concerned the oldest members of the franche who were assigned slave status, a practice that was sometimes denounced as naïve, backward-looking or even as "treachery to one's class". In their journey towards emancipation and to free themselves from social stigma, other strategies are used to a greater extent, to challenge, circumvent or ignore these social boundaries.
Various interpretations of Islam coexist with regard to slavery. Islam is often used by political and religious elites to maintain the status quo of slavery and descent-based slavery. On the other hand, resistance movements such as IRA Mauritania and Gambana invoke Muhammad's liberation of slaves and consider slavery practices to be illegitimate in an Islamic context.
References
Slavery by type
Genealogy | Descent-based slavery | [
"Biology"
] | 2,714 | [
"Phylogenetics",
"Genealogy"
] |
75,773,058 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CWISEP%20J1935-1546 | CWISEP J1935-1546 (CWISEP J193518.59-154620.3 or Brown Dwarf W1935 or W1935) is a cold brown dwarf or planetary-mass object with a mass of 2-20 or 6-35 and a distance of 14.4 parsec (47 light-years).
CWISEP J1935-1546 was discovered in 2019 by Marocco et al. as an extremely cold brown dwarf with a temperature range of 270-360 K and a distance of 5.6-10.9 parsec. It was discovered with the help of the python package XGBoost, using machine-learning algorithms and the CatWISE catalog, as well as the WiseView tool. According to a NASA press release CWISEP J1935-1546 was discovered by the security engineer and citizen scientist Dan Caselden. Follow-up observations with Spitzer revealed a very red object with ch1-ch2 of 3.24±0.31 mag. Later Kirkpatrick et al. 2021 showed a temperature of 367±79 K (15-173 °C; 59-343 °F) and a parallax of 69.3±3.8 mas ( parsec) for this object. The spectral type was estimated to be later than Y1. Observations with JWST found strong signatures of methane, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, water vapor and ammonia in the atmosphere of this brown dwarf. The abundance of hydrogen sulfide was measured, but the researchers don't mention its detection. Phosphine is undetected and the researchers only provide upper limits.
Aurora
At the 243rd meeting of the AAS it was announced that W1935, shows emission of methane. This is attributed to heating of the upper atmosphere by an aurora around W1935. Impacts of electrons with molecular hydrogen creates trihydrogen cation (H) in gas giants with an aurora. Emission from H was not detected in W1935, likely due the higher density of the brown dwarf, which leads to a shorter lifetime of H. Aurorae were discovered in the past around hotter brown dwarfs with radio telescopes. The solar system planets Jupiter and Saturn have an aurora because of interactions with the stellar wind and with particles from active moons, such as Enceladus and Io. The researchers propose that the aurora around W1935 is caused by either unaccounted internal processes or by external interactions with interstellar plasma or a nearby active moon. The researchers also announced that W1935 has a temperature inversion that is either caused by the aurora or has to do with internal energy transport. These results were later published in April 2024.
See also
List of star systems within 45–50 light-years
List of Y-dwarfs
References
Y-type brown dwarfs
Planetary-mass objects
WISE objects
Sagittarius (constellation) | CWISEP J1935-1546 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 594 | [
"Sagittarius (constellation)",
"Planetary-mass objects",
"Astronomical objects",
"Constellations"
] |
75,773,862 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%206622 | NGC 6622 is an interacting spiral galaxy in the constellation Draco. It is located around 313 million light-years away, and it was discovered by Edward D. Swift and Lewis A. Swift on June 2, 1885. NGC 6622 interacts with NGC 6621, with their closest approach having taken place about 100 million years before the moment seen now. NGC 6622 and NGC 6621 are included in the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies as Arp 81 in the category "spiral galaxies with large high surface brightness companions".
NGC 6622 is the smaller of the two, and is a very disturbed galaxy. The encounter has left NGC 6622 very deformed, as it was once a spiral galaxy. The collision has also triggered extensive star formation between the two galaxies. The most intense star formation takes place in the region between the two nuclei, where a large population of luminous clusters, also known as super star clusters, has been observed. At this region is observed the most tidal stress. The brightest and bluest clusters are less than 100 million years old, with the youngest being less than 10 million years old. The side of the galaxy further from the companion features noticeably less star formation activity.
References
External links
More about NGC 6622
Spiral galaxies
Interacting galaxies
Draco (constellation)
Astronomical objects discovered in 1885
Galaxies discovered in 1885
Discoveries by Edward Swift
Discoveries by Lewis Swift
61579
61579
11175 S
6622 | NGC 6622 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 287 | [
"Constellations",
"Draco (constellation)"
] |
75,774,905 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fudosteine | Fudosteine (Cleanal) is a mucolytic agent. In Japan, it is approved for the treatment of bronchial asthma, chronic bronchitis, pulmonary emphysema, bronchiectasis, pulmonary tuberculosis, pneumoconiosis, atypical mycobacterial disease, and diffuse panbronchiolitis.
Fudosteine works by increasing mucin secretion by inhibiting expression of the protein mucin 5AC.
References
Expectorants
Amino acid derivatives
Primary alcohols
Thioethers | Fudosteine | [
"Chemistry"
] | 114 | [
"Pharmacology",
"Pharmacology stubs",
"Medicinal chemistry stubs"
] |
75,775,022 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung%20Galaxy%20S24 | The Samsung Galaxy S24 is a series of high-end Android-based smartphones developed, manufactured, and marketed by Samsung Electronics as part of its flagship Galaxy S series. They collectively serve as the successor to the Galaxy S23 series. The phones were announced on January 17, 2024, at the Galaxy Unpacked event in San Jose, California and subsequently released on January 31, 2024. The S24 FE was announced on September 26, 2024, and was released on October 3, 2024. They were succeeded by the Galaxy S25 series announced on January 22, 2025.
Lineup
The Galaxy S24 series includes four devices, which share the same lineup and screen sizes as the previous Galaxy S23 series. The flagship Galaxy S24 features a flat 6.2-inch (155 mm) display. The Galaxy S24+ features similar hardware in a 6.7-inch (168 mm) form factor. The Galaxy S24 Ultra features a flat 6.8-inch (173 mm) display, with sharp edges, distinct from its base model counterpart. The S24 and S24+ phones are powered by Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in the U.S., Canada, China, Macau, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan, while a Exynos 2400 is used in the rest of the world. The S24 Ultra is equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in every market. Conversely, the S24 FE comes with an underclocked variant of the Exynos 2400 called the Exynos 2400e in every market including North America.
Design
The Galaxy S24 and S24+ have aluminum and matte glass versions and are available in four standard colors: Amber Yellow, Marble Gray, Cobalt Violet, and Onyx Black, with three additional colors available only through Samsung's website: Jade Green, Sapphire Blue and Sandstone Orange. The S24 Ultra features titanium versions of these colors. The Galaxy S24 FE has a limited set of 5 colors called Blue, Graphite, Gray, Mint, and Yellow.
Display
The Galaxy S24 and S24+ use a "Dynamic AMOLED 2X" display with HDR10+ support, 2600 nits of peak brightness, LTPO backplane, "dynamic tone mapping" technology, and Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2. The Galaxy S24 FE has 1900 nits of peak brightness and LTPS backplane. All models use an ultrasonic in-screen fingerprint sensor, except the S24 FE which uses an optical in-screen fingerprint sensor. The S24 series uses a variable refresh rate display with a range of 1 Hz or 24 Hz to 120 Hz, except the S24 FE which has a range of 60 Hz to 120 Hz.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra, in addition to the features of the S24+, uses Corning Gorilla Glass Armor glass on its display, but it drops the curved edges seen in the Galaxy S23 Ultra.
Camera
The Galaxy S24 and S24+ have a 50 MP wide sensor, a 10 MP 3x telephoto sensor and a 12 MP ultrawide sensor. The S24 Ultra has a 200 MP wide sensor, 50 MP 5× periscope telephoto sensor, 10 MP 3x telephoto sensor, and a 12 MP ultrawide sensor. The front camera uses a 12 MP sensor on all three models.
Batteries
The Galaxy S24, S24+, S24 Ultra, and S24 FE contain internal 4,000 mAh, 4,900 mAh, 5,000 mAh, and 4,700 mAh Li-ion batteries respectively. The S24 and S24 FE only charges at 25 watts, while the S24+ and S24 Ultra charge up at 45 watts charging.
Connectivity
The Galaxy S24, S24+, and S24 FE support 5G SA/NSA/Sub6, Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity, while the Galaxy S24 Ultra additionally supports Wi-Fi 7 and ultra-wideband (UWB). All models support 5G mmWave exclusively in the US.
Memory and storage
The Galaxy S24 phones feature 4,800 MT/s LPDDR5X memory and Universal Flash Storage 3.1 with 128 GB or version 4.0 with 256 GB and above.
Software
The Galaxy S24 phones were released with Android 14 with Samsung's One UI 6.1 user experience. Samsung has promised 7 years of security patches and OS upgrades.
All phones use Google's on-device Gemini Nano, already used by their own Pixel 8 Pro and their Pixel 9 series.
Reception
S Pen bad smell
Some users noted the unpleasant smell of the Galaxy S24 Ultra's S Pen, likened to "burnt plastic". A moderator on Samsung's EU forums said the smell was a normal part of the pen's operation, and "isn't anything to be concerned about".
This smell is likely from chemical reactions to the plastic shell of the S Pen, induced by the internal heat of the phone.
See also
Samsung Galaxy S series
List of longest smartphone telephoto lenses
References
External links
Galaxy S24 & S24+ – official website
Galaxy S24 Ultra – official website
Android (operating system) devices
Samsung Galaxy
Flagship smartphones
Samsung smartphones
Mobile phones with multiple rear cameras
Mobile phones introduced in 2024
Phablets
Mobile phones with 8K video recording
Mobile phones with stylus | Samsung Galaxy S24 | [
"Technology"
] | 1,116 | [
"Flagship smartphones"
] |
75,775,878 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organoid%20intelligence | Organoid intelligence (OI) is an emerging field of study in computer science and biology that develops and studies biological wetware computing using 3D cultures of human brain cells (or brain organoids) and brain-machine interface technologies. Such technologies may be referred to as OIs.
Differences with non-organic computing
As opposed to traditional non-organic silicon-based approaches, OI seeks to use lab-grown cerebral organoids to serve as "biological hardware." Scientists hope that such organoids can provide faster, more efficient, and more powerful computing power than regular silicon-based computing and AI while requiring only a fraction of the energy. However, while these structures are still far from being able to think like a regular human brain and do not yet possess strong computing capabilities, OI research currently offers the potential to improve the understanding of brain development, learning and memory, potentially finding treatments for neurological disorders such as dementia.
Thomas Hartung, a professor from Johns Hopkins University, argues that "while silicon-based computers are certainly better with numbers, brains are better at learning." Furthermore, he claimed that with "superior learning and storing" capabilities than AIs, being more energy efficient, and that in the future, it might not be possible to add more transistors to a single computer chip, while brains are wired differently and have more potential for storage and computing power, OIs can potentially harness more power than current computers.
Some researchers claim that even though human brains are slower than machines at processing simple information, they are far better at processing complex information as brains can deal with fewer and more uncertain data, perform both sequential and parallel processing, being highly heterogenous, use incomplete datasets, and is said to outperform non-organic machines in decision-making.
Training OIs involve the process of biological learning (BL) as opposed to machine learning (ML) for AIs. BL is said to be much more energy efficient than ML.
Bioinformatics in OI
OI generates complex biological data, necessitating sophisticated methods for processing and analysis. Bioinformatics provides the tools and techniques to decipher raw data, uncovering the patterns and insights. A Python interface is currently available for processing and interaction with brain organoids.
Intended functions
Brain-inspired computing hardware aims to emulate the structure and working principles of the brain and could be used to address current limitations in artificial intelligence technologies. However, brain-inspired silicon chips are still limited in their ability to fully mimic brain function, as most examples are built on digital electronic principles. One study performed OI computation (which they termed Brainoware) by sending and receiving information from the brain organoid using a high-density multielectrode array. By applying spatiotemporal electrical stimulation, nonlinear dynamics, and fading memory properties, as well as unsupervised learning from training data by reshaping the organoid functional connectivity, the study showed the potential of this technology by using it for speech recognition and nonlinear equation prediction in a reservoir computing framework.
Ethical concerns
While researchers are hoping to use OI and biological computing to complement traditional silicon-based computing, there are also questions about the ethics of such an approach. Examples of such ethical issues include OIs gaining consciousness and sentience as organoids and the question of the relationship between a stem cell donor (for growing the organoid) and the respective OI system.
Enforced amnesia and limits on duration of operation without memory reset have been proposed as a way to mitigate the potential risk of silent suffering in brain organoids.
References
Artificial intelligence
Computational fields of study
Computational neuroscience
Developmental neuroscience
Formal sciences
Intelligence by type
Stem cells
Synthetic biology | Organoid intelligence | [
"Technology",
"Engineering",
"Biology"
] | 747 | [
"Synthetic biology",
"Biological engineering",
"Computational fields of study",
"Bioinformatics",
"Molecular genetics",
"Computing and society"
] |
75,777,460 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZNF865 | ZNF865 (also referred to as BLST [2-4]) is a C2H2 member of the zinc finger family of proteins. Structurally, ZNF865 consists of 20 different zinc finger domains, 6 disordered regions, 2 transactivation domains, and 2 TGEKP domains. Diseases associated with ZNF865 expression include Parkinson’s disease, esophageal cancer, and musculoskeletal diseases. Lack of expression of ZNF865 has been associated with increased incidence of Parkinson’s disease, worse outcome measures in esophageal cancer, and increased incidence of musculoskeletal diseases.
Broadly, ZNF865 is expressed across all human cell and tissue types. Bioinformatics analysis predicts ZNF865 to be localized to the nucleus, and function in metal ion binding, DNA-binding transcription factor activity, interact with RNA polymerase II, and regulate transcription by RNA polymerase II. Experimental data displays ZNF865 is a regulator of cellular senescence, cell cycle progression, DNA replication, DNA repair, and protein processing. Lack of expression of ZNF865 induces cellular senescence, indicating that ZNF865 expression is necessary for healthy cell function. While increased expression of ZNF865 results in a shift in the cell cycle, increased rates of DNA replication and proliferation rates. Overall, ZNF865 has been confirmed as a regulator of cellular senescence, cell cycle progression, and DNA replication.
References | ZNF865 | [
"Chemistry"
] | 324 | [
"Biochemistry stubs",
"Protein stubs"
] |
75,778,959 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C4%81kyakara%E1%B9%87a | Vākyakaraṇa is the source book of Vākyapañcāṅga which is a type of almanac popular among Tamil speaking people of South India. In Vākyapañcāṅga, the positions of the celestial entities and the timings of celestial events as obtained using the computational methods expounded in the text Vākyakaraṇa. These methods make use of astronomical tables compiled centuries ago. Each entry in such tables is in the form of a vākya, that is, a sentence in Sanskrit, and it represents some numerical value encoded using the kaṭapayādi scheme. Different sets of such vākya-s have been compiled for different celestial entities. One such set is Cāndrvākya-s which is a set of 247 values relating to the position of the Moon. The original set of Cāndrvākya-s are attributed to the legendary Kerala astronomer Vararuci. These were later revised by Mādhava of Saṅgamagrāma, another legendary astronomer and mathematician from Kerala. Such collections of vākya-s have been compiled in respect the five planets Mercury, Mars, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn. It may be noted that these vākya-s themselves are not part of the Vākyakaraṇa.
The authorship of the work has not been fully established. However, internal evidences suggest that the author should be somebody hailing from Kanchi in the Tamil country. The date of composition has been determined as c.1282 CE. Vākyakaraṇa has been commented upon by Sundararāja, a contemporary of Nīlakaṇṭha Somayājī (1444 – 1545)) the author of Tantrasamgraha.
Even though Vākyakaraṇa is the source book of Vākyapañcāṅga, almanac makers now do not use this work directly. They make use of later modern adaptions of the work like Jyotiṣa Gaṇita Śāstram by Mūnāmpaṇṇai Kṛṣṇa Jyosyar and Parahita Gaṇitaṃ by Swamy Ayyangar of Karayur.
Contents
Most of the manuscripts of Vākyakaraṇa are divided into five chapters. However, there is one manuscript that contains an additional sixth chapter and it is believed to a later interpolation. The first chapter is concerned with computations involving the positions of the Sun, the Moon and the Rāhu, the second chapter with the planets, the third chapter with problems involving time, position and direction, the fourth chapter with eclipses and the fifth chapter with the rising and setting of the Mahāpāta-s.
T. S. Kuppanna Sastri and K. V. Sarma have critically assessed the contents of the work thus:
"Being a Karaṇa intended for practical use, ease of computation is the aim, which means that too much accuracy cannot be expected in the work. The vākya-s are given to the nearest minute. The differences between the vākya-s are so great that interpolation gives values several minutes off the correct values. The sines are given for 15 degree intervals and the declination of points on the ecliptic for five degree intervals. The methods of computing the circumstances of the eclipses and the Mahāpāta-s are rough and can only give results not very accurate."
Additional reading
The full text of Vākyakaraṇa with the Laghuprakāśikā commentary by Sundararāja critically edited with introduction, English translation and appendices by T. S. Kuppanna sastri and K. V. Sarma is available for free download in the Internet Archive. the appendices of the downloadable version contain the full set of vākya-s in respect of the Moon and the five planets.
For a critical study of the contents of Vākyakaraṇa:
See also
Vākyapañcāṅga
References
Hindu astronomy
Astronomy books
Hindu astrological texts
Indian astronomy texts | Vākyakaraṇa | [
"Astronomy"
] | 795 | [
"Astronomy books",
"Works about astronomy"
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75,781,528 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tecno%20Spark%2020 | The Tecno Spark 20C, Tecno Spark 20, Tecno Spark 20 Pro and Tecno Spark 20 Pro+ are Android-based smartphones manufactured, released and marketed by Tecno Mobile as part of Tecno Spark 20 series. The devices serve as successors to the Tecno Spark 10 series.
The Spark 20C, Spark 20, Spark 20 Pro and Spark 20 Pro+ are an upgraded version of the Spark 10 series, with improvements to the design, processor and display. The phone has received generally favorable reviews, with critics mostly noting the camera and the design. Critics, however, criticized the lack of 5G connectivity and ultra-wide lens.
Specifications
Hardware
The Spark 20C and Spark 20 feature a 720p resolution, while the Spark 20 Pro and Spark 20 Pro+ feature a 1080p resolution. The Spark 20C and the Spark 20 phones feature a display size of 6.6-inches, while the Spark 20 Pro and the Spark 20 Pro+ feature a display size of 6.78-inches. The Spark 20C comes with a MediaTek Helio G36 SoC; the Spark 20 comes with a MediaTek Helio G85 SoC; the Spark 20 Pro comes with a MediaTek Helio G99 SoC; and the Spark 20 Pro+ comes with a MediaTek Helio G99 Ultimate SoC.
The Spark 20C and the Spark 20 come with 4/8 GB of RAM, while the Spark 20 Pro and Spark 20 Pro+ come with 8 GB of RAM. The Spark 20C comes with 128 GB of storage, the Spark 20 comes with 128/256 GB of storage, and the Spark 20 Pro and Spark 20 Pro+ come with 256 GB of storage.
All of the devices feature the ability to use a microSD. All the devices come with a battery capacity of 5000 mAh, with the Spark 20C and Spark 20 supporting fast charging at 18 watts, while the Spark 20 Pro and Spark 20 Pro+ support fast charging at 33 watts. The Spark 20C and Spark 20 feature a 50-megapixel main camera, while the Spark 20 Pro and Spark 20 Pro+ feature a 108-megapixel main camera. The Spark 20C features an 8-megapixel front camera, while the Spark 20, Spark 20 Pro and Spark 20 Pro+ feature a 32-megapixel front camera.
Software
The Spark 20C, Spark 20 and Spark 20 Pro run on Android 13 with HiOS 13.5, while the Spark 20 Pro+ runs on Android 14 with HiOS 13.6.
The HiOS 13.5 and 14 versions come bundled with a slew of apps like memory anti-aging, memory slimming, EllaGPT and lighting multi-window, among others.
Reception
Audu Baba praised the Spark 20 for its display, performance and speaker, while noting that the device is separated from the predecessor, the Spark 10, due to its "processor and improved selfie experience." However, the lack of 1080p resolution was criticized.
Salman Khan from World Affairs Insider praised the Spark 20 Pro+ for its design, IP53 rating and display, while noting that the phone "emerges as a device that seamlessly blends innovation with user-friendly features".
Ayorinde Ayodeji from Faqontech praised the Spark 20 for its selfie camera, while noting that the device "emerges as a well-rounded device, combining commendable processor performance with an upgraded camera system". However, the lack of wireless charging was criticized.
Vincenz Lee from Gadget Match praised the Spark 20 Pro+ for its display, speakers and design. However, criticism was directed at the lack of an ultra-wide lens and a more powerful chipset dedicated to 5G and gaming.
References
Android (operating system) devices
Phablets
Mobile phones introduced in 2023
Tecno smartphones | Tecno Spark 20 | [
"Technology"
] | 797 | [
"Crossover devices",
"Phablets"
] |
75,782,067 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C6H13NO3S | {{DISPLAYTITLE:C6H13NO3S}}
The molecular formula C6H13NO3S (molar mass: 179.23 g/mol) may refer to:
Cyclamic acid
Fudosteine
Molecular formulas | C6H13NO3S | [
"Physics",
"Chemistry"
] | 55 | [
"Molecules",
"Set index articles on molecular formulas",
"Isomerism",
"Molecular formulas",
"Matter"
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75,782,080 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisemitism%20on%20social%20media | Antisemitism on social media can manifest in various forms such as emojis, GIFs, memes, comments, and reactions to content. Studies have categorized antisemitic discourse into different types: hate speech, calls for violence, dehumanization, conspiracy theories and Holocaust denial.
Up to 69% of Jews in the U.S. having encountered antisemitism online according to the 2022 report. Jews have encountered antisemitism either as targets themselves or by being exposed to antisemitic content on their media page.
General
Quint Czymmek, a German social scientist, cited in his paper a 2019 study that found that young European Jews (ages 16–34) are more prone to encountering antisemitic harassment or violence compared to their older counterparts. Additionally, these younger individuals identified the internet and social media as the primary domains where antisemitism poses the most significant challenge in the present day.
Researcher Sophie Schmalenberger revealed that expressions of antisemitism go beyond explicit, offensive language and images on social media. They also manifest in subtle, coded forms that can easily go unnoticed. According to Schmalenberger an example of this is observed on Facebook, where the German far-right party, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), has deliberately avoided referencing the Holocaust in its posts about the Second World War. Furthermore, the party employed antisemitic language and rhetoric, subtly normalizing antisemitism.
According to research, algorithms have played a significant role in amplifying antisemitism, as they are designed to prioritize content based on user engagement. This means that posts with higher engagement, including likes, dislikes, shares, and comments (including counter comments), are more prominently displayed to users. The issue arises because user reactions to posts also trigger rewarding dopamine responses. Consequently, the algorithmic emphasis on outrageous content, which tends to generate the most engagement, incentivizes users to contribute more hateful content. Two studies, provided exclusively to USA Today, found that Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter) users to tropes and conspiracies. The 2023 result, researchers say, is provoking dangerous ideas as antisemitic incidents surge to historic levels.
Concerns have arisen among critics regarding the prevalence of antisemitism on social media, posing a significant issue for both the Jewish community and wider public discourse. While traditional methods of recording hate crimes, such as police crime records and the Crime Survey of England and Wales, have shown improvement, critics have said there remains a substantial underreporting of both online and offline antisemitic incidents. This discrepancy gives rise to a notable "dark figure" in the overall assessment of the problem.
Examples of antisemitic statements reported on social media include: "Jews are rats", "All Jews are greedy" and "I'm glad the holocaust happened".
A study conducted by the Ruderman Family Foundation and the Network Contagion Research Institute, released in July 2023, revealed Israel as the most attacked country on social media. X (formerly Twitter) users mentioned Israel in connection with human rights violations 12 times more than China, 38 times more than Russia, 55 times more than Iran, and 111 times more than North Korea. Notably, during the Israeli-Hamas conflict in Gaza in May 2021, the use of anti-Israel tropes surged. This escalation was accompanied by the release of a February 2022 Amnesty International report labeling Israel as an apartheid state.
The researchers also observed an increase in anti-Semitic comments on Twitter, which correlated with real-world Jewish-targeted hate crime incidents. The highest point coincided with conspiracy theories related to COVID-19 and the 2021 assault on the Capitol in Washington by supporters of Donald Trump.
Michael Bossetta, a researcher at Sweden's Lund University, points out that antisemitic content represents a tiny fraction of the traffic on social media. In his chapter in the book, he says most studies find that antisemitic content total in less than 1% of the total number of posts worldwide (as of year 2022). In one major survey, it was 0.00015%.
Germany
In their annual report "Antisemitic incidents in Germany 2023", the Federal Association of Departments for Research and Information on Antisemitism e.V. (RIAS) has found that 21 percent of all recorded antisemitic incidents took place online in that year. While the relation of the percentage of online antisemitism to the total of antisemitic incidents decreased compared to the previous year, the absolute numbers still increased. In 2022, RIAS recorded 853 cases of online antisemitism directed towards individuals or organisations compared to 999 cases in 2023. General hate speech and antisemitic rhetoric was not counted in that statistic. Most commonly, antisemitism online occurred via direct messages and of those 999 cases 51 percent took place on social media platforms.
Platforms
TikTok
TikTok, according to researchers and ratings, is very popular among young people, in addition to being widely used for news purposes, political platforms and following significant personages. Due to its widespread usage, "TikTok has become a magnet and a hotbed for violent and extremist content," the Israeli researchers Gabriel Weimann and Natalie Masri write in their chapter.
A study conducted between February 2020 to May 2021 by Weimann and Masri found a 41% increase in antisemitic posts, a 912% increase in antisemitic comments and a 1,375% increase in antisemitic usernames. For example, a song about Jewish people being killed in Auschwitz was accessed more than six million times worldwide.
According to the CCDH, TikTok, in particular, is falling in banning accounts that directly targets Jewish users. The study reveals that the platform only removes 5 percent of accounts engaged in activities such as sending direct messages promoting Holocaust denial. In 2023, Jewish American celebrities signed a letter to TikTok stating TikTok was not safe for Jewish users.
In December 2023, during the Republican Party presidential primary debate in the United States, candidate Nikki Haley referenced research conducted by Anthony Goldbloom, the founder of data science startup Kaggle, to argue for the banning of TikTok, claiming that "For every 30 minutes that someone watches TikTok every day, they become 17% more antisemitic and more pro-Hamas." In response, TikTok asserted via Twitter that Haley's "statement is 100% false."
Instagram
According to a 2021 report, there are "millions" of results for hashtags relating to antisemitic conspiracy theories on Instagram.
A report by the CST released in 2021 investigated antisemitism on Instagram. Following 27 trending antisemitic hashtags, for example: #gasjews, #israhell, #zionistagenda etc., which indicated a significant use of antisemitic hashtags on the platform.
On Instagram, antisemitism is perpetrated not only by users but also by hackers who hijack accounts to spread antisemitic content. On its Instagram feed, the Berlin Film Festival (Berlinale) temporarily displayed antisemitic information that was later removed by anonymous hackers. The posts that had been hacked quickly disappeared, containing antisemitic remarks regarding the war in Gaza and the Berlinale emblem. The festival made it clear that the posts did not represent its opinions and criticized the hacking.
X (formerly Twitter)
ADL examined the year between 2017 and 2018, determining that roughly 4.2 million antisemitic tweets were posted and reposted on Twitter during said timespan. The percentage of tweets pulled in by a query which tested positive for antisemitism ranged from a low 8.9% in week 33 (August 13–19) to a high of 34.2% in week 18 .
Josephine Ballon, the head of legal at HateAid, said that to pursue a free speech platform we must ensure that X (formerly Twitter) is a safe space for users and free of fear of being attacked or receiving death threats or Holocaust denial.
According to an article published in March 2023, antisemitism on X (formerly Twitter) remains "higher than ever" with some worried about the platform descending into a "hellscape" filled with toxic, inflammatory content and misinformation.
X suspended the account of Kanye West after he tweeted an image of the Star of David with a swastika inside. The rapper's account had been suspended before for antisemitic tweets.
YouTube
According to findings from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, there was a 4963% increase in antisemitic comments on YouTube videos related to the conflict in the days following the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel. YouTube recorded a total of 15,720 hateful comments against Jewish people in the week following the attack by Hamas, as revealed by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue.
According to the report, the attacks include comments featured dehumanizing language, drawing inappropriate comparisons between Israelis and Nazis. They also propagated conspiracy theories, ranging from the unfounded notion that Jewish individuals control the media, political structures, and financial institutions to the claim that the Hamas attack was a 'false flag' orchestrated by Israel. Additionally, explicit threats were made against Jewish figures and officials, accompanied by the sharing and dissemination of graphic images, as well as calls for violence targeting Jewish officials.
Facebook
With 3.05 billion users (December 2023), Facebook is one of the largest social media platforms. As of 2016, 11% of available online antisemitic discourse (41,000 posts) is conducted on Facebook. The majority of these posts involve symbols or photos. Four percent of the discourse (1,500 posts) are calls to violence against Jews.
Two possible explanations for the relatively low scope of antisemitic discourse in relation to the network's popularity: either the users chose not to publicly upload offensive content on Facebook or the network puts a great deal of effort into removing such content.
Unlike X (formerly Twitter), hashtags such as #killthejews or #Holohoax don't exist on Facebook. Problematic usernames also were not found. Discourse glorifying Hitler, however, was found, including groups such as Hitler memes or pages of far-right organizations. Almost all of the users who uploaded antisemitic content on Facebook did so using fabricated usernames, which is prohibited by Facebook's terms of service.
In a 2021 report, researchers collected 714 antisemitic posts between May and June which included Holocaust denial, and conspiracy theories with false claims about Jews "controlling" governments and banks, or orchestrating world events. The report concluded that Facebook acted on only 14 out of 129 posts reported to it (10.9%). The report stated that Facebook groups from which it sourced many of its sample posts, with titles such as "Exposing the new world order" and "Exposing Zionism", were still active. Facebook reacted to the allegations noting that they have increased their actions against hate speech 15 percent more since 2017.
According to sources, Facebook have increased its removal antisemitic content and its rate of removals are higher than other social media. According to a 2023 report, Facebook has removed 35% of all antisemitic content in 2022 reported to the platform by the FOA in comparison to 23% content removed in 2021.
Telegram
A report from Hope not Hate highlighted the prevalence of antisemitism within Telegram which has emerged as a primary refuge for individuals expelled from other social networks due to their extremist views. In 2021, critics argued that Telegram's lax moderation policies have allowed numerous channels dedicated to antisemitic conspiracies and overtly violent content to thrive. One such channel, "Dismantling the Cabal," promoting the New World Order conspiracy theory since February 2021, has amassed over 90,000 followers. Another channel, managed by an antisemitic QAnon supporter known as GhostEzra, has a following of 333,000.
In addition to these concerning findings, Hope not Hate discovered that a minimum of 120 Telegram groups and channels have shared the racist and antisemitic manifesto authored by the perpetrator of the Christchurch mosque attacks in New Zealand in March 2019, resulting in the deaths of 51 individuals. Despite this dissemination of harmful content, Telegram has taken no action against such materials according to Hope Not Hate.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, Telegram played a significant role in the dissemination of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, on March 15, 2020, shortly after the onset of the pandemic, a Telegram user posted a depiction of a Jewish caricature within a COVID-19–headed Trojan horse. The seemingly cunning Jewish figure, who is being welcomed inside the metaphorical walls of society, reinforces antisemitic tropes of Jews as power-hungry and seeking world domination, deceitful liars, spreaders of disease, and scapegoats for others' problems. Telegram also enabled the circulation of additional COVID-19 antisemitism with user messages suggesting "Israel has unleashed a bio weapon" intended to teach China that "jealous, vindictive Jews" control the country's dynasty. Such content highlights how Telegram's severely limited content moderation policies facilitate the spread of antisemitism, misinformation, and hate speech in the broader context of social media strengthening age-old antisemitic tropes.
TamTam
TamTam is a new social media messenger application that is known for its advanced Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption technology that keeps conversations very secure and private.
Although its privacy may initially be understood as a beneficial feature, there are many unintended consequences that have caused a surge in antisemitic rhetoric and violence.
In November 2022, a study by The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) revealed that on TamTam there were thirteen antisemitic, extreme right-wing channels promoting neo-Nazi and violent content.
Responses
In extensive interviews conducted by Czymmek, three young German Jewish adults disclosed that experiencing an antisemitic social media post left them with a profound sense of "loss of control," "unawareness of what would happen next," and despair over "the silence of other users." One of the study's participants decided to keep his Jewish identity on social media anonymous. "This anonymity protects me very much, it keeps the hate at bay."
In the online space, CEO of CCDH Imran Ahmed said, there are no limits, and people become radicalized without any boundaries. "The online spaces then have an effect on offline spaces because these people have worsened," Ahmed said. "The failure of these companies is a cost that's paid in lives."
In response to years of increased antisemitic incidents and a significant spike in reports since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict, several universities have decided to take action. The University of Michigan (U-M) and New York University (NYU) are creating new institutes dedicated to researching and preventing antisemitism. The Raoul Wallenberg Institute, named for the Swedish businessman and humanitarian who saved thousands of Jews during the Holocaust, is being established by the University of Michigan. New York University (NYU) establish the NYU Center for the Study of Antisemitism with the help of a seven-figure donation. Center is anticipated to open in Fall 2024.
The parent company of Facebook and Instagram, Meta, announced a new policy to combat antisemitism by banning posts that misuse the term "Zionists" as a cover for hate speech directed towards Jews on July 9, 2024. With this modification, instances in which the term "Zionist" is used to degrade Jews, incite negative stereotypes, incite violence against Jews, or dispute the existence of Zionists fall within the expanded definition of antisemitic and "tier 1 hate speech."
Previously, on Meta social media platforms, the word "Zionist" was only allowed to be used in specific contexts, including when it was used to refer to Jews or Israelis. Following discussions with 145 stakeholders, including specialists in history,political science, law, civil rights, and human rights, the revised policy was developed.
As technology and artificial intelligence advances, it has been used in some cases to help remove antisemitic hate on social media. AI is given specific keywords and phrases to flag and remove from the internet. However, it is very challenging for AI to distinguish between educational and harmful content, resulting in the unsuccessful removal of antisemitic hate online. In some cases, AI works counterintuitively, removing educational information rather than harmful rhetoric. For instance, an educational post about the Holocaust to counter Holocaust denial on social media was taken down due to AI's inability to understand the purpose of the usage of the keywords.
Antisemitism following the 7 October attacks
According to a report by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, antisemitism on social media increased following the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel. The antisemitic content, according to the report, includes admiration of Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust, and advocating violence against Jewish individuals. This upswing in online antisemitic content not only fuels the dissemination of hatred but also reinforces the worldwide normalization and legitimization of antisemitism.
According to recent findings from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, there was a 4963% increase in antisemitic comments on YouTube videos related to the conflict in the days following the 2023 Hamas-led attack.
See also
Red triangle (Palestinian symbol)
The Holocaust and social media
Terrorism and social media
Wikipedia and antisemitism
References
Antisemitism
Hate speech
Internet-related controversies | Antisemitism on social media | [
"Technology"
] | 3,732 | [
"Computing and society",
"Social media"
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75,782,122 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bismuthyl%20%28ion%29 | Bismuthyl is an inorganic oxygen-containing singly charged ion with the chemical formula BiO, and is an oxycation of bismuth in the +3 oxidation state. Most often it is formed during the hydrolysis of trivalent bismuth salts, primarily nitrate, chloride and other halides. In chemical compounds, bismuthyl plays the role of a monovalent cation.
In inorganic chemistry bismuthyl has been used to describe compounds such as BiOCl which were assumed to contain the diatomic bismuthyl, BiO, cation, that was also presumed to exist in aqueous solution.
This diatomic ion is not now believed to exist. Unlike other inorganic radicals such as hydroxyl, carbonyl, chromyl, uranyl or vanadyl, according to the current IUPAC rules, the name bismuthyl for BiO is not recommended, since individual molecules of these groups are not identifiable but atomic layers of Bi and O. Their presence in compounds preferably should be referred to as oxides. However, the latter position remains controversial. For example, to this day the Russian school of inorganic chemistry still operates with bismuthyl and stibil (antimonyl) cations as actually existing radicals.
In the history of chemistry
Until the last quarter of the 20th century, the real existence of the bismuthyl ion was not in doubt; it was fully present in all reference books and manuals on inorganic chemistry, including German and English ones. The most famous compound of this class was considered bismuthyl chloride, the chemical properties of which were studied in detail and were considered titular for all other bismuth compounds. In addition, the compound with the calculation formula BiOCl exists in nature in the form of bismoclitea, one of the secondary metamorphosed minerals from the class of halides.
In the fundamental three-volume book “Modern Inorganic Chemistry” by Nobel laureate Frank Cotton and Geoffrey Wilkinson, summarizing the latest achievements of science in the first half of the 20th century, the real existence of the bismuthyl cation is not only not questioned, but is not even discussed in any detail. This inorganic radical is mentioned without further explanation and is by default considered a legacy of the fundamental corpus of inorganic chemistry of the 19th century. First of all, the authors note that of the entire group of pnictogens, only bismuth has a truly extensive and detailed cation chemistry. According to the authors, aqueous solutions of bismuth salts contain well-defined hydrated cations. Moreover, bismuthyl in the newest version at that time also acquires quasi-polymeric properties, connecting into chains or hexagons. For example, in neutral perchlorate solutions the main ions are [Bi6O6]6+ or its hydrated form [Bi6(OH)12]6+, and at higher pH values [Bi6O6(OH)3]3+ are formed.
In mineralogy and geochemistry
Previously, it was believed that bismuthyl plays almost the main role in the geochemistry of bismuth and metamorphic processes taking place in a liquid medium. Already in ore waters, bismuth and its main compounds are oxidized, forming a sparingly soluble oxychloride — bismoclite, which, when mixed with bicarbonate background waters, is replaced by an even more sparingly soluble — bismuthite. As a result, small amounts of bismuth circulate in both ore and background waters precisely in the form of bismuthyl ion.
The migration of bismuth in neutral and slightly alkaline groundwater in the form of a simple bismuth ion is hindered as a result of the low threshold pH for the precipitation of its hydroxide from solution. According to thermodynamic calculations carried out in the late 1960s for the stability fields of native bismuth, bismuthinite, bismuth oxides and bismuthyl chloride, in the pH–Eh coordinates the main ion form of bismuth migration was the bismuthyl ion BiO+. According to calculations, it occupied a leading place in the metabolic and oxidative processes that constantly take place in the erosion zones of bismuth minerals.
Bismuthyl chloride, along with BiO(NO) nitrate, which was originally considered the title compound of this cation, actually exists in nature in the form of bismoclite, one of the secondary metamorphosed minerals from the class of halides. According to the chemical formula conventionally recognized back in the 19th century, bismoclite consisted precisely of bismuthyl cations (BiO) and chlorine anions (Cl). Thus, previously the chemical composition of this mineral was traditionally called bismuthyl chloride. However, by the end of the 20th century, based on the results of targeted chemical analyses, the reality of the existence of the diatomic bismuthyl ion was called into question. Since then, bismoclite has been characterized as bismuth oxide-chloride (oxychloride). In the same way, it was proposed to rename all similar bismuthyl compounds, primarily the remaining halides (from fluoride to iodide) and nitrate.
Chemical properties
The classic method for obtaining bismuthyl salts was the treatment of bismuth oxide () with nitric acid. This reaction produces bismuthyl salts such as BiO(NO3 and Bi2O2(OH)(NO3) as end products. The same bismuthyl salts precipitate when strongly acidic solutions of various bismuth compounds are diluted.
The formation of bismuthyl was also considered to be a process that constantly occurs as a result of hydrolysis. Thus, bismuth nitrate, Bi(NO3)3 • 5H20, crystallizes from a solution resulting from the reaction of bismuth with nitric acid. It dissolves in a small amount of water acidified with nitric acid. However, when the solution is diluted with larger quantities of water, hydrolysis occurs and basic salts precipitate, the composition of which depends on the conditions. A salt of the composition BiONO3 is often formed.
Bismuthyl chloride (BiOCl) is readily soluble in hydrochloric acid. Moreover, this process, like nitrate, proceeds through a reversible reaction; a shift of the reaction to the left or right also occurs along the line of hydrolysis, depending on the relative amount of water and the (residual) hydrochloric acid present. Adding water to a slightly acidic solution of ВіСl immediately causes the appearance of a white precipitate of basic bismuth chloride, BiOCl. When hydrochloric acid is added, the precipitate dissolves again, but it immediately falls out when more water is added. All other bismuth compounds behave in aqueous solutions similarly to chloride.
In more detail, the ongoing hydrolysis reactions using bismuth chloride as an example are usually represented by the following reversible equations:
BiCl3 + H2O ↔ BiOHCl2 + HCl
BiOHCl2 + H2O ↔ Bi(OH)2Cl + HCl
The resulting dihydroxobismuth chloride is unstable and easily splits off a water molecule:
Bi(OH)2Cl = BiOCl + H2O
The output is a basic salt containing a bismuthyl cation ВiO+, i.e. ″bismuthyl″ chloride.
Bismuth nitrate is hydrolyzed in the same way, forming the main salt of the composition BiONO3. However, the reaction with it in an aqueous environment is much less successful and does not have such a clear result, since the resulting bismuthyl nitrate is much more soluble in water than its chloride.
The hydrolysis reaction of bismuth salts is reversible, and therefore when heated and hydrochloric acid is added to the precipitate, it dissolves again:
BiOCl + 2HCl = BiCl3 + H2O
When the solution is diluted again with water, a precipitate of the basic salt precipitates again.
The main mechanism in such reactions is the pronounced amphotericity of X(ОН)3 hydroxides for arsenic and antimony and the basic properties for bismuth, as a result of which the salts are susceptible to hydrolysis, especially in the case of antimony and bismuth, which are characterized by the formation of antimonyl cations SbO+ and bismuthyl BiO+. According to this principle, Bi(OH)3, losing water when heated, turns into yellow bismuthyl hydroxide with the formula BiO(OH), sparingly soluble in water, which upon further dehydration forms Bi2O3 oxide.
At elevated temperatures, the vapors of the metal combine rapidly with oxygen, forming the yellow trioxide, . When molten, at temperatures above 710 °C, this oxide corrodes any metal oxide and even platinum. On reaction with a base, it forms two series of oxyanions: , which is polymeric and forms linear chains, and . The anion in is a cubic octameric anion, , whereas the anion in is tetrameric.
In addition to bismuthyl itself, thiocompounds corresponding to bismuthyl salts are also considered indicative for the chemistry of bismuth, for example, gray thiobismuthyl chloride with the formula BiSCl and others similar to it. These substances, unlike bismuthyl salts, are very stable with respect to water, and can be easily prepared by the action of hydrogen sulfide gas on the corresponding bismuth trihalide.
Practical significance
The mineral bismoclite (bismuthyl chloride) has a traditional use as one of the secondary bismuth ores that are constantly formed in oxidation zones. When mixed with other associated ores, it will become the raw material for the production of pure bismuth and its compounds.
In medical diagnostics, bismoclite (in the form of purified bismuth oxychloride) is used as a local radiocontrast agent.
In addition, in the production of cosmetics, bismoclite is used as an enhancing additive; it gives a pearlescent shine to lipstick, nail polish and eye shadow.
In the chemical industry, in the process of cracking hydrocarbons, bismuthyl chloride is used as a catalyst.
The bismuthyl cation is also widely involved in the synthesis of bismuth-organic compounds, including those with pharmaceutical applications.
References
See also
Bismuthyl
Bismuthyl chloride
Bismuthyl carbonate
Bismuthyl nitrate
Bismoclite
Cations
Bismuth compounds
History of chemistry | Bismuthyl (ion) | [
"Physics",
"Chemistry"
] | 2,247 | [
"Cations",
"Ions",
"Matter"
] |
75,782,783 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIRIUS%20%28software%29 | SIRIUS is a Java-based open-source software for the identification of small molecules from fragmentation mass spectrometry data without the use of spectral libraries. It combines the analysis of isotope patterns in MS1 spectra with the analysis of fragmentation patterns in MS2 spectra. SIRIUS is the umbrella application comprising CSI:FingerID, CANOPUS, COSMIC and ZODIAC.
SIRIUS, including its web services for structural elucidation, is freely available to use for academic research. Bright Giant GmbH offers subscription-based access to the SIRIUS web services for commercial users.
SIRIUS is not suitable for analyzing proteomics MS data.
History
The SIRIUS software is developed by the group of Sebastian Böcker at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany and since 2019 together with Bright Giant GmbH. SIRIUS development started in 2009 as a software for identification of the molecular formula by decomposing high-resolution isotope patterns (also called MS1 data). The name is an akronym resulting from this original purpose: Sum formula Identification by Ranking Isotope patterns Using mass Spectrometry.
In 2008 the group introduced the concept of fragmentation trees for identification of the molecular formula based on fragmentation mass spectrometry data, also called tandem MS or MS2 data. Back then, identification of small molecules was approached by searching in a reference spectral library. Examples of such libraries include MassBank, METLIN, or NIST/EPA/NIH EI-MS Library. However, this is limited to known molecules with available standards that have been measured and put in a reference spectral library. For unknown molecules, identification of the molecular formula is a crucial step. In 2011/2012, the group conceived fragmentation trees as a means of structural elucidation by automatically comparing these fragmentation trees. Fragmentation pattern similarities are strongly correlated with the chemical similarity of molecules. Thus, aligning the fragmentation tree of an unknown molecule to a set of known molecules helps to elucidate its structure. Fragmentation trees were introduced in SIRIUS 2.
Also in 2012, the group of Juho Rousu at University of Helsinki, Finland, introduced a machine learning method to predict molecular properties from tandem MS data. This concept was brought together with the fragmentation tree concept in 2015 resulting in CSI:FingerID, being introduced in SIRIUS 3. The fragmentation tree is used to predict a molecular fingerprint of the unknown molecule using machine learning, which in turn is used to search a molecular structure database such as PubChem. Molecular structure databases are orders of magnitude larger than reference spectra libraries (PubChem containing ~111 million compounds in 2021 compared to NIST Tandem Mass Spectral Library containing ~50.000 compounds in 2023). This kind of structure identification refers to the identity and connectivity (with bond multiplicities) of the atoms, but not stereochemistry information. Elucidation of stereochemistry is currently beyond the power of automated search engines.
SIRIUS 3 also introduced the graphical user interface (GUI).
In 2020, in cooperation with the group of Pieter C Dorrestein at UC San Diego, USA, molecular formula identification was improved based on derivative networks from complete biological datasets to rank molecular formula candidates. This method is called ZODIAC and has been integrated into SIRIUS 4.
Also in 2020, in cooperation with Rousu's and Dorrestein's groups, CANOPUS for systematic compound class annotation was introduced to SIRIUS 4.
In 2022, the COSMIC confidence score was added to the CSI:FingerID structure identification workflow in SIRIUS 4, allowing users to determine the trustworthiness of the identification.
Data
SIRIUS is using data from liquid-chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). It requires high-resolution, high mass accuracy MS1 and MS2 data as input. LC is not mandatory for SIRIUS, however is often required to separate individual compounds in complex samples.
MS1 data refers mainly to the isotope pattern of the compound. Due to the natural isotopic distributions of the elements, several peaks in the mass spectrum correspond to the same type of sample molecule, reflecting its isotope pattern.
MS2 data refers to the fragmentation pattern of the compound. MS2 is also known as tandem mass spectrometry or MS/MS. The statistical model of SIRIUS and the machine learning model of CSI:FingerID were trained on MS2 spectra created by collision-induced dissociation (CID), as commonly applied in LC-MS/MS experiments.
SIRIUS expects both, MS1 and MS2 spectra, as input. Omitting the MS1 data is possible, but it will make the analysis more time-consuming and can lead to poorer results.
SIRIUS and CSI:FingerID have been trained on a wide variety of data, including data from different instrument types. Certain aspects of the mass spectra are important to successfully process the data:
High mass accuracy: The mass deviation of the input spectra should be within 20 ppm. Mass spectrometry devices such as TOF, Orbitrap and FT-ICR usually provide data with high mass accuracy, as do coupled devices such as Q-TOF, IT-TOF or IT-Orbitrap. Spectra measured with a quadrupole or linear trap do not provide the required accuracy for data analysis with SIRIUS.
Rich fragmentation spectra: It is not possible to deduce the structure or even the molecular formula from an MS2 spectrum that contains almost no peaks. Prior noise filtering of the spectra is not necessary and not favorable. SIRIUS considers up to 60 peaks in the fragmentation spectrum and decides for itself which of these peaks are regarded as noise.
Centroided MS data: SIRIUS does not contain routines for peak picking from profile-mode spectra. msConvert in ProteoWizard can be used to convert to centroided data. Additionally, there are several tools specialized for the preprocessing task, such as OpenMS, MZmine or XCMS. OpenMS and MZmine 3 both provide export functions tailored to the needs for SIRIUS.
Different common MS file formats, such as .csv, .ms or .mgf files, can be imported to SIRIUS. SIRIUS can import full LC-MS-runs (.mzML) or single compounds. At present, SIRIUS only handles single-charged compounds.
Features
SIRIUS identifies small molecules in a two step approach:
First, the molecular formula of the molecule is determined.
Second, a molecular fingerprint is predicted to search against a structure database to identify the most likely candidate.
The following algorithms are implemented in SIRIUS:
SIRIUS: Molecular formula identification
SIRIUS is the name of the umbrella application, but (for historic reasons) also the name for the identification of the molecular formula. Molecular formula refers to the elemental composition of the molecule. The mere mass of a molecule is not sufficient to determine the correct molecular formula. Even with very high mass accuracy, many molecular formulas can explain a mass measured in a spectrum, in particular in higher mass regions. In SIRIUS, molecular formula identification is done using isotope pattern analysis on the MS1 data as well as fragmentation tree computation on the MS2 data. The score of a molecular formula candidate is a combination of the isotope pattern score and the fragmentation tree score.
To identify the molecular formula, SIRIUS is considering all possible molecular formulas for a set of elements. The elements most abundant in living beings are hydrogen (H), carbon (C), nitrogen (N), oxygen (O), and phosphor (P). This is the default set of elements in SIRIUS. Some less common elements result in very characteristic isotope pattern changes and can be automatically detected. Detectable elements are sulfur (S), chlorine (Cl), bromine (Br), boron (B) and selenium (Se). The current version of SIRIUS uses
a deep neural network for auto-detection of elements from the isotope and fragmentation pattern of the query molecule.
For very large molecules or in case of missing data (e.g., a missing isotope pattern), it is possible to restrict SIRIUS to molecular formulas found in a database, such as PubChem.
Decomposition of mass
In order to quickly generate a manageable number of molecular formula candidates, the monoisotopic mass is decomposed into all possible molecular formulas that would lead to this mass. There are two definitions of the monoisotopic mass: (1) the sum of the masses of the most abundant naturally occurring stable isotope of each atom (i.e. the highest peak of the isotope pattern) (2) the sum of the masses of the lightest naturally occurring stable isotope of each atom (i.e. the peak of the isotope pattern with the lowest mass). For small molecules, the lightest peak is also mostly the highest peak of the isotope pattern. However, in the computational context of SIRIUS, the second definition is used.
Decomposing the monoisotopic mass into all possible molecular formulas requires a mass interval taking into account the measurement inaccuracy of the instrument. This real-valued decomposition is transformed into a problem instance with integer masses by using a blowup factor. The resulting problem is known as Change-making problem which is well-studied and can be solved in runtime linear in the size of the output.
Isotope pattern analysis
Isotope patterns of the candidate molecular formulas are simulated starting with the isotopic distributions of the individual elements, and then combining these distributions by folding.
The simulated isotope pattern is compared with the measured pattern by assigning probabilities to the observed masses and intensities.
Fragmentation tree computation
A fragmentation tree is a representation of the fragmentation process similar to “fragmentation diagrams” created by experts. The fragmentation tree annotates the MS2 spectrum by providing a molecular formula for each fragment peak. Peaks that do not receive an annotation are considered noise peaks. The fragmentation tree also predicts the fragmentation reactions (called losses) leading to the fragment peaks. Fragmentation trees are a valuable tool for deducing information about the fragmentation but are not a precise depiction of the actual fragmentation process.
To identify the molecular formula of an unknown molecule, a separate fragmentation tree is computed for every molecular formula candidate. In other words, the method attempts to reconstruct the fragmentation process that led to this MS2 spectrum for each candidate molecular formula. This allows to compare the different hypotheses that a particular candidate is actual the correct molecular formula. The best-scoring fragmentation tree (i.e. the fragmentation process that is best explaining the spectrum) corresponds to the most likely molecular formula explanation.
ZODIAC: Improved molecular formula identification
ZODIAC improves the ranking of the formula candidates provided by SIRIUS. Organisms produce related metabolites derived from multiple but limited biosynthetic pathways. For a full LC-MS/MS run that is derived from a biological sample or any other set of derivatives the relation of the metabolites is reflected in their similarity. Those similarities are in turn reflected in joint fragments and losses between the fragmentation trees and can be leveraged to improve molecular formula identification of the individual molecules.
ZODIAC uses the top X molecular formula candidates for each molecule from SIRIUS to build a similarity network, and uses Bayesian statistics to re-rank those candidates. Prior probabilities are derived from fragmentation tree similarity. Finding an optimal solution to the resulting computational problem is NP-hard, therefore Gibbs sampling is used.
ZODIAC stands for ZODIAC: Organic compound Determination by Integral Assignment of elemental Compositions.
CSI:FingerID: Structure database search
CSI:FIngerID identifies the structure of a molecule by predicting its molecular fingerprint and using this fingerprint to search in a molecular structure database.
Molecular fingerprints
A molecular fingerprint is a binary vector, where each position corresponds to a specific molecular property. In this representation, a given position X may encode the presence or absence of a particular substructure, with '1' indicating presence and '0' indicating absence. Various types of molecular fingerprints exist, including PubChem CACTVS fingerprints, Klekota-Roth fingerprints, MACCS fingerprints, and Extended-Connectivity Fingerprints (ECFP). A molecular fingerprint can be deterministically computed from a given molecular structure. Different molecular structures may yield the same molecular fingerprint.
Predicting molecular fingerprints
CSI:FingerID predicts a probabilistic fingerprint with a variety of molecular properties from several fingerprint types. The fingerprint is predicted from the given spectrum and its corresponding fragmentation tree using deep kernel learning, which is a combination of kernel methods and deep neural networks. Not only the top scoring molecular formula but multiple high-scoring molecular formula candidates are considered.
Comparing molecular fingerprints
To search in a molecular structure database requires a metric to compare and score the molecular fingerprints. Tanimoto similarity (Jaccard index) is a commonly employed metric. A similarity value of 1 signifies identical fingerprints, while a value of 0 indicates structures that do not share any molecular properties. The calculated similarity value depends on the choice of fingerprint type.
CSI:FingerID employs a logarithmic posterior probability to rank the structure candidates, where scores are represented as negative numbers, and zero is the optimum. This scoring function results in a higher number of correct identifications. Tanimoto similarities are also given.
COSMIC: Identification confidence
The COSMIC confidence score assigns a confidence to CSI:FingerID structure identifications. The idea is similar to False Discovery Rates: All molecules in a large dataset are analysed using CSI:FingerID, the top-ranked hit for each molecule will be evaluated by COSMIC and the most trustworthy identifications can be selected for further analysis. COSMIC does not re-rank structure candidates of a particular molecule nor does it discard any identifications.
COSMIC employs a confidence score that combines E-value estimation and a linear support vector machine (SVM) with enforced directionality. Calibration of CSI:FingerID scores is achieved using E-value estimates. Generating decoys for small molecule structures is a non-trivial task, that is why candidates in PubChem serve as a proxy for decoys here.
The score distribution is modeled as a mixture distribution of log-normal distributions, and the P-value and E-value of a hit score are estimated using the kernel density estimate of PubChem candidate scores. The SVM is employed to classify whether a hit is correct, utilizing features such as the calibrated score, score differences to other candidates, the total peak intensity explained by the fragmentation tree, and the cardinality of molecular fingerprints. Learning is constrained to a linear SVM to mitigate the risk of overfitting, and the directionality of features is enforced. This involves making upfront decisions about whether high or low values of a feature should enhance the confidence in an identification. For instance, a high CSI:FingerID score of a hit should increase but never decrease the confidence that the hit is correct. Some features necessitate the existence of at least two candidates for comparison, and separate SVMs are trained for single instances. The decision values of the SVM are mapped to posterior probability estimates using Platt scaling. This comprehensive approach ensures a robust and nuanced assessment of the confidence in molecule identifications.
CANOPUS: compound class prediction
CANOPUS is short for class assignment and ontology prediction using mass spectrometry. It predicts the compound classes from the molecular fingerprint predicted by CSI:FingerID. This approach is completely database-free, i.e. it is not even limited to molecules that are listed in structure databases.
CANOPUS employs a deep neural network (DNN) to predict 2,497 compound classes. The DNN was trained on 4.10 million compound structures with compound classes assigned by ClassyFire. No MS/MS data was used for training, but instead simulated ‘realistic’ probabilistic fingerprints for the training molecular structures were used. The DNN predicts all compound classes simultaneously.
For full biological datasets, CANOPUS provides a comprehensive overview of compound classes present in the sample and allows for comparisons between different cohorts at compound class level.
Areas of application
Small molecules are essential components found throughout nature, playing a significant role in various fields such as drug discovery, diagnostics, food science, environmental monitoring, and more. Effectively addressing many global challenges hinges on the comprehensive identification of small molecules in complex samples. These complex mixtures contain thousands of different molecules measurable in a single mass spectrometry run.
The identification of unknown small molecules is considered a critical bottleneck in metabolomics, natural product research, and related fields, given that widely over 90% of all small molecules remain unknown. Commonly, analyses were based on targeted approaches that are limited to the rediscovery of known molecules. In contrast, untargeted analysis is a top-down strategy that avoids the need for a prior specific hypothesis on expected small molecules. The focus shifts from asking, "Is molecule X present in the sample?" to "Which (unknown) molecules are present in the sample and might be relevant for downstream analysis?"
SIRIUS is designed for the untargeted structural elucidation of unknown molecules, addressing various challenges:
The correct molecular structure is prominently ranked from an extensive list of candidates. This can be compared to a Google search where the optimal answer is expected to be among the top three.
It can be assessed whether the top candidate is indeed correct.
Structural information is available even for molecules absent in extensive structure databases, including details on compound class and substructure information.
Examples of application
Neonatal dried blood spots are important for newborn screening and a powerful source for investigating the potential metabolic etiologies of various diseases using untargeted LC-MS-based metabolomics. Researchers used SIRIUS to investigate the stability of metabolites and classes of molecules in neonatal dried blood spot biobanks.
Marine microorganisms offer a rich source of bioactive compounds with unique structures and remarkable biological activity. This makes them an important resource for the search for new therapeutic compounds. Researchers are using SIRIUS, to narrow down the search to the most promising microorganisms.
Pediatric asthma poses diagnostic challenges due to its variable presentation. Breath analysis could be a game-changer in pediatric allergic asthma management. By identifying unique exhaled metabolic signatures using SIRIUS, researchers developed an approach to diagnose children with allergic asthma.
Thiacloprid is a first-generation, widely used, neonicotinoid insecticide. Its persistence in the environment and potential adverse effects on human health have raised significant concerns. Elucidating the impurity profile of pesticides is crucial for assessing their environmental impact and potential risks, and setting acceptable limits for impurities. Using SIRIUS, researchers demonstrated an approach for identifying structurally related impurities in pesticides.
Under certain conditions, two bacterial species can thrive together in a dual-species biofilm. The cooperation between P. aeruginosa and S. aureus in cystic fibrosis leads to increased disease severity. Using SIRIUS, researchers identified a metabolite that could be related to the increased pathogenesis of this dual-species biofilm in cystic fibrosis.
Our skin hosts a diverse community of microorganisms known as the skin microbiota. Using SIRIUS, researchers identified changes in the skin metabolome that are more pronounced than changes in the microbial composition, suggesting that even subtle shifts in microbial abundance can lead to significant effects on the skin.
Limitations
Limitation of the measurement method
Mass spectra alone lack sufficient information to unambiguously identify every molecule. Some molecules produce almost indistinguishable spectra – even more similar than the same molecule measured on two different instruments. Extensive follow-up experiments are required for unambiguous identification.
Based thereon, it is impossible to always correctly identify a molecular structure merely from a mass spectrum. Thus, CSI:FingerID as well as other methods for structure database search, cannot guarantee finding the correct molecular structure as first hit. That is why it is important to have the correct structure ranked very high from an extensive list of candidates and to assess the confidence in the top hit.
Limitation of structure databases
Structure databases are orders of magnitude larger than spectral libraries but still incomplete. It is understood that not every existing biomolecule is or will be contained in structure databases.
For these instances, SIRIUS offers several solutions:
SIRIUS can search in databases of hypothetical structures. This could be for example interesting for finding derivatives.
The predicted molecular fingerprint offers structural information about, e.g., substructures.
CANOPUS predicts the compound classes of a molecule without searching in a database.
Independent evaluation of the software
CASMI (Critical Assessment of Small Molecule Identification)
is an open contest on the identification of small molecules from mass spectrometry data, and was launched in 2012 by Emma Schymanski and Steffen Neumann.
In CASMI 2016, CSI:FingerID and a derivative of CSI:FingerID, in which the Böcker Group was also involved, won first and second place in the category “Best Automatic Structural Identification - In Silico Fragmentation Only”. Also, CSI:FingerID had the best result for ranking the correct molecule structure at position one (70 out of 127, positive mode).
In CASMI 2017, SIRIUS plus CSI:FingerID won in 3 of 4 categories: “Best Structure Identification on Natural Products”, “Best Automatic Structural Identification - In Silico Fragmentation Only”, “Best Automatic Candidate Ranking”.
In CASMI 2022, six out of 16 contestants used SIRIUS in their workflow to identify the best molecular structure candidates. SIRIUS won in the categories “Correct elemental formulas”, “Correct compound structure classes” and “Correct 2D chemical structures”. CASMI 2022 included compounds that were not even contained in PubChem.
Awards and recognition
Sebastian Böcker's group at FSU Jena won the 2022 Thuringian Research Award in the Applied Research category for SIRIUS and the underlying methods.
SIRIUS was recognized as a "method to watch" by Nature Methods in 2020.
Licences
SIRIUS is developed by the group of Sebastian Böcker at the FSU Jena in close collaboration with the Bright Giant GmbH. SIRIUS is provided as a software-as-a-service solution. The client software is open-source and installed on the users’ computers. Molecular formula annotation using fragmentation trees and isotope pattern analysis is performed on your local computer without subscription requirement.
The SIRIUS web services for structural elucidation, including molecular fingerprint prediction, structure database search, confidence score assessment and compound class prediction, require a user account. The web services are free for academic/non-commercial use provided/hosted by the FSU Jena. Academic institutions are identified by their email domain and access will be granted automatically. In some cases, further validation might be required.
Bright Giant GmbH offers subscription-based access to the SIRIUS web services for structural elucidation for commercial users.
Alternatives
Other algorithms and software for searching in structure databases are CFM-ID, ICEBERG, MetFrag, MS-FINDER, MetaboScape® (Bruker), MassHunter (Agilent) or Compound Discoverer™ (Thermo Fisher Scientific).
See also
Tandem mass spectrometry
Metabolomics
List of mass spectrometry software
References
Mass spectrometry software | SIRIUS (software) | [
"Physics",
"Chemistry"
] | 4,738 | [
"Mass spectrometry software",
"Mass spectrometry",
"Spectrum (physical sciences)",
"Chemistry software"
] |
78,860,958 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/1936%20O1%20%28Kaho%E2%80%93Kozik%E2%80%93Lis%29 | Comet Kaho–Kosik–Lis, also known as C/1936 O1, is a long-period comet that became barely visible to the naked eye in July 1936. It is the parent body of the Psi Scorpiids meteor shower.
Discovery and observations
The comet was simultaneously discovered by three astronomers, Shigeru Kaho (Japan), Stefan M. Kozik (Turkmen SSR) and Władysław Lis (Poland) on the night of 17 July 1936. It was a 6th-magnitude object located within the constellation Leo Minor at the time of its discovery, and had started its outbound flight upon reaching perihelion about two days earlier.
References
Notes
Citations
External links
Long-period comets
Near-Earth comets
Meteor shower progenitors | C/1936 O1 (Kaho–Kozik–Lis) | [
"Astronomy"
] | 161 | [
"Astronomy stubs",
"Comet stubs"
] |
78,861,280 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transition%20metal%20hydroxide%20complexes | Transition metal hydroxide complexes are coordination complexes containing one or more hydroxide (OH−) ligands. The inventory is very large.
Hydroxide as a ligand
Hydroxide is classified as an X ligand in the Covalent bond classification method. In the usual electron counting method, it is a one-electron ligand when terminal and a three-electron ligand when doubly bridging.
From the electric structure perspective, hydroxide is a strong pi-donor ligand, akin to fluoride. One consequence is that few polyhydroxide complexes are low spin. Another consequence is that electron-precise hydroxide complexes tend to be rather nucleophilic.
Representative complexes
Many hydroxo complexes are prepared by treating metal halides with hydroxide salts. Hydrolysis of basic ligands (amides, alkyls) also produces hydroxide complexes.
Homoleptic complexes
Only a few homoleptic hydroxide complexes are known. These include the d6 species and the d0 complexes .
Mixed ligand complexes
Many complexes are known where hydroxide shares the coordination sphere with other ligands. One pair of such complexes are {[Co(NH3)3]2(mu-OH)3}3+ and its derivative {[Co(NH3)3(H2O)]2(mu-OH)2}4+.
Reactions
Prominent reactions of metal hydroxides are their acid-base behavior. Protonation of metal hydroxides gives aquo complexes:
where is the ligand complement on the metal M
Thus, aquo ligand is a weak acid, of comparable strength to acetic acid (pKa of about 4.8).
In principle but not very commonly, metal hydroxides undergo deprotonation, yielding oxo complexes:
Characteristically, hydroxide ligands are compact and basic. They tend to function as bridging ligands. One manifestation of this property is the preponderance of di-and polymetallic hydroxide complexes. A practical consequence of this feature is the tendency of metal aquo complexes to form precipitates of meta hydroxides.
Bioinorganic chemistry
Hemerythrins, proteins responsible for oxygen (O2) transport in some animals have an diiron hydroxide active site. The hydroxide ligand engages the bound O2 through hydrogen bonding.
The nucleophilicity of hydroxo ligands is relevant to the role of some M-OH centers in enzymology. For example, in carbonic anhydrase, a zinc hydroxide binds carbon dioxide:
The oxygen evolving complex (OEC) consists of a Mn-Ca-O-OH cluster that is responsible for the biosynthesis of O2. It is proposed that the O-O bond forming step involves a hydroxide ligand.
Metalloproteinases catalyze the hydrolysis peptide bond. The catalytic center is such enzymes often involves metal hydroxides.
References
Ligands | Transition metal hydroxide complexes | [
"Chemistry"
] | 609 | [
"Ligands",
"Coordination chemistry"
] |
78,862,393 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red%20Books%20of%20Humphry%20Repton | The Red Books were books created by the landscape designer Humphry Repton to illustrate his designs for his clients.
The books were a way for Repton to describe his landscape design plans for their property. More than one hundred of the estimated four hundred Red Books created by Repton are still extant. The books acquired their name from their distinctive binding in red Morocco leather.
The Morgan Library & Museum in New York City holds the Red Books for Ferney Hall in Shropshire, commissioned by Samuel Phipps in 1789, and Hatchlands Park in Surrey, commissioned by William Brightwell Sumner in 1800.
The Red Books for Shrublands Hall in Suffolk from 1788 and Brondesbury Park in Middlesex in 1790, are in the collection of Dumbarton Oaks in Georgetown (Washington, D.C.).
References
Landscape architecture
Books about gardening
18th-century works | Red Books of Humphry Repton | [
"Engineering"
] | 171 | [
"Landscape architecture",
"Architecture"
] |
78,862,860 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparkles%20emoji | The Sparkles emoji (✨) is an emoji that has one large star surrounded by smaller stars. Originating from Japan to represent sparkles used in anime and manga, the sparkles are often used as emphasis in text by surrounding words or phrases with it. It is the third most-used emoji in the world on Twitter as of 2021, and since the early 2020s it has been used by major software companies to represent artificial intelligence.
Development
According to Emojipedia, the Sparkles emoji was first used by Japanese mobile operators SoftBank, Docomo and au in the late 1990s. The emoji was added to Unicode 6.0 in 2010 and Emoji 1.0 in 2015.
On some platforms the Sparkles emoji has been multicoloured whilst on other platforms it has been one colour. Twitter and Microsoft's Sparkles have changed from being multicoloured to being a single colour. Samsung's version of the emoji previously had a night sky in the background.
Usage
Interpersonal communication
The Sparkles emoji was originally meant to represent the usage of sparkles in Japanese anime and manga, where the sparkles are used to represent beauty, happiness or awe. The emoji has several meanings and depends upon context. Starting in the late 2010s or around 2020, the emoji started being used to surround words or phrases to be used as emphasis, an example being "I would simply ✨pass away✨". It can also be used as sarcasm, irony or as a way to mock people. Without emoji this could be represented with tildes or asterisks, for exampe, "~tildes~" or "~*asterisk plus tilde*~" or "~*~*true sparkle exuberance*~*~". The sparkles emoji can be used to represent stars in text, be used to represent cleanliness or can be used to mean "orgasm" whilst sexting.
In September 2021 the Sparkles emoji overtook the Pleading Face (🥺) emoji to become the third most-used emoji in the world according to Emojipedia, with approximately 1 per cent of all tweets containing the Sparkles emoji.
Artificial intelligence
In the early 2020s the Sparkles emoji started being used as an icon to represent artificial intelligence (AI). Companies who use the emoji this way include Google, OpenAI, Samsung, Microsoft, Adobe, Spotify and Zoom. As of August 2024, seven of the top 10 software companies by market capitalisation use the Sparkles emojis with AI. OpenAI has different versions of the Sparkles for different versions of the models that ChatGPT uses. One explanation is that Sparkles is being used by these companies as a way to market AI as "magic". Marketing technology as "magic" has been used before AI, particularly by Apple. Another explanation given by designers and marketers choosing to use Sparkles to signify AI is simply that everyone else is doing it, making it familiar to users.
Around 2024 some of these companies started removing two of the smaller stars from the emoji in their AI services and have kept the one large star, an example being Google's Gemini chatbot.
In early 2024 the Nielsen Norman Group provided test subjects with the star in isolation and found that people did not associate the symbol with AI, but instead mostly with "optimisation" or "favourite or save an item".
References
Individual emoji
Star symbols
Artificial intelligence | Sparkles emoji | [
"Mathematics"
] | 736 | [
"Symbols",
"Star symbols"
] |
78,863,667 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/1936%20K1%20%28Peltier%29 | Peltier's Comet, formal designation C/1936 K1, is a non-periodic comet that became visible to the naked eye between July and August 1936. It is the fifth of 10 comets discovered by American astronomer, Leslie C. Peltier.
References
External links
Non-periodic comets
Near-Earth comets | C/1936 K1 (Peltier) | [
"Astronomy"
] | 66 | [
"Astronomy stubs",
"Comet stubs"
] |
78,863,993 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Para-Bromomethamphetamine | para-Bromomethamphetamine (PBMA; developmental code name V-111), also known as 4-bromomethamphetamine (4-BMA), is a monoaminergic drug of the amphetamine family related to para-chloroamphetamine (PCA; 4-chloroamphetamine). It was studied by József Knoll and colleagues in the 1970s and 1980s.
Originally thought to selectively act on serotonin, PBMA was subsequently found to act not only on serotonin but also on norepinephrine and dopamine similarly to PCA. It has been reported to produce pharmacological effects that have been said to be "somewhat similar" or "indistinguishable" to those of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and various other hallucinogens in various animal species. However, when the drug was subsequently tested in humans, it showed no hallucinogenic effects whatsoever. This is analogous to the case of PCA, which can produce the head-twitch response in rodents but is not hallucinogenic in humans. The hallucinogen-like effects of PBMA in animals can be reversed by the serotonin synthesis inhibitor para-chlorophenylalanine (PCPA), suggesting that they are due to elevation of serotonin levels rather than direct serotonin receptor agonism. Other animal studies have found PBMA to produce stimulant, appetite suppressant, pro-cognitive-like, anticonvulsant, and sleep-disrupting effects. Besides its effects, the pharmacokinetics and metabolism of PBMA have been studied in rodents.
PBMA produces serotonergic neurotoxicity of a similar magnitude to PCA and para-bromoamphetamine (PBA) in rodents. Conversely, para-fluoroamphetamine (PFA; 4-fluoroamphetamine) is much less effective.
See also
4-Bromomethcathinone
4-Fluoromethamphetamine
para-Chloromethamphetamine
para-Iodoamphetamine
2,5-Dimethoxy-4-bromoamphetamine
References
4-Bromophenyl compounds
Abandoned drugs
Methamphetamines
Monoaminergic neurotoxins
Serotonin-norepinephrine-dopamine releasing agents
Stimulants | Para-Bromomethamphetamine | [
"Chemistry"
] | 526 | [
"Drug safety",
"Abandoned drugs"
] |
78,864,569 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oenethyl | Oenethyl, also known as 2-methylaminoheptane and sold under the brand names Pacamine and Neosupranol, is a sympathomimetic and vasopressor medication of the alkylamine which is no longer marketed. It was used as a nasal decongestant and to control blood pressure during anesthesia. It is closely structurally related to other alkylamines, for instance methylhexanamine and tuaminoheptane, among others. These compounds are known to act as structurally simple monoamine releasing agents and to produce psychostimulant-like effects.
See also
1,3-Dimethylbutylamine
Heptaminol
Iproheptine
Isometheptene
Methylhexanamine
Octodrine
Tuaminoheptane
References
Abandoned drugs
Alkylamines
Antihypotensive agents
Decongestants
Sympathomimetics | Oenethyl | [
"Chemistry"
] | 196 | [
"Pharmacology",
"Drug safety",
"Medicinal chemistry stubs",
"Pharmacology stubs",
"Abandoned drugs"
] |
78,865,948 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arimasia | Arimasia germsi is an extinct sponge from the late Ediacaran, with possible affinities to the Archaeocyatha. Estimated to be about 543 million years old, A. germsi has been identified as possibly being the oldest known archaeocyathan to date. Its fossil material was found between 1993 and 1996 from the Nama Group in Namibia.
Discovery and name
The fossil material of Arimasia was found from the Nama Group of Namibia during the years of 1993, 1995 and 1996, and officially described in 2024.
The generic name Arimasia is derived from Arimas farm, the type locality of the fossil material. The specific name germsi is derived from the surname of Gerard J.B. Germs, celebrating the 50th anniversary of his Ph.D. dissertation on The stratigraphy and paleontology of the lower Nama Group, South West Africa.
Description
Arimasia germsi is possibly the earliest known archaeocyath sponge, and the only one to be found in the Ediacaran, with possible relations to the Monocyathida, partially sharing certain features seen in the clade, although missing a couple of key details.
It has a conical form, which grew up to a max of in height. It features a sealed rounded base, with a circular opening at the top, which extends into the cone. It bears eight irregular rugae on the lower part of its body, the body itself being granular in nature, forming a mesh-like appearance.
Some specimens on a particular slab are oriented in a certain direction, suggesting that Arimasia may have been tethered to the substrate. Arimasia has also been noted to pass the criteria for being classified as a sponge as set out by Antcliffe et al., with the meshed body being similar to that of Archaeolynthus contractus, but does not feature the mineralised bodies that all sponges have. As such, it has been suggested that Arimasia is a unmineralised, single-walled archaeocyath, perhaps even a stem-group demosponge, along with possibly being related to vauxiid sponges, which are known to have unmineralised bodies.
See also
List of Ediacaran genera
References
Ediacaran life
Fossils of Namibia
Enigmatic prehistoric animal genera
Fossil taxa described in 2024
Sponges | Arimasia | [
"Biology"
] | 493 | [
"Sponges",
"Animals"
] |
78,866,350 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GB%201508%2B5714 | GB 1508+5714 is an extremely distant blazar located in the constellation of Draco. It has a redshift of (z) 4.30 and is classified as a radio-loud quasar, first discovered in 1995 by astronomers. The radio spectrum of the source appears as flat, making it a flat-spectrum source but also a bright X-ray source.
Description
GB 1508+5714 is variable on the electromagnetic spectrum. It is known to emit a powerful gamma-ray flare in February 2022, detected by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, between the 0.1-300 GeV range but its flux is 25 times more brighter. In additional, GB 1508+5714 also displayed optical flares that was shown on both r and i bands when shown by light curves taken from Zwicky Transient Facility. Prolonged gamma activity was detected as well, showing variable flux on timescales.
Radio imaging by Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) on arcsecond scales, shows the source of GB 1508+5714 is mainly made up of a compact radio core with a flat spectral index of 0.02 ± 0.01 and two emission regions located both west and east directions of the core. Very long baseline interferometry (VLBI), shows the source to be a core-jet structure instead with the core located northeast and a jet component located in southwest direction, with the southernmost faint feature being identified as a radio lobe.
An X-ray jet was discovered by Chandra X-ray Observatory in 2003 with flux and luminosity values measured as 9.2 x 10−15 erg cm−2 s−1 and 1.6 x 1045 erg s−1 respectively. Based on observations, the size of the jet is found to have a projected distance of 25 kiloparsecs with the X-ray emission peaking by 2 arcseconds as it reaches southwest from the core. This emission is possibly caused due to relativistic jet particles and cosmic microwave background photons interacting with each other.
References
External links
GB 1508+5714 on SIMBAD
GB 1508+5714 on NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database
GB 1508+5714 on HyperLeda
Quasars
Blazars
Draco (constellation)
Active galaxies
Astronomical objects discovered in 1995 | GB 1508+5714 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 482 | [
"Constellations",
"Draco (constellation)"
] |
78,866,513 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UMI%209.50M | UMI 9.50 is a backhoe loader constructed for the Polish army, manufactured in Huta Stalowa Wola. In use since 2004. It can operate as an excavator, bulldozer, snowplough, sweeper, demolition hammer, or even an asphalt milling machine.
Construction
UMI 9.50 is a modernization of the machine, previously designated as model 9.50.
Compared to the previous design, the cabin has been enlarged, the front part has been modified by lowering the engine hood, which has improved the operator's observation. It has fully opening side windows and a lifting rear window. An electrohydraulically controlled excavator boom lowering lock has been installed, the operator can now turn it on and off without leaving the cabin. Additional lights have been used at the back to illuminate the excavator's working area, and the engine compartment has been silenced.
The machine is powered by a four-cylinder Iveco N45MSS turbocharged diesel engine with a displacement of 4.5 l, developing 99 HP at 2,200 rpm and a maximum torque of 400 Nm at 1,250 rpm.
The engine is coupled with an automatic four-speed gearbox, fully shiftable under load (Full Power Shift), electronically controlled, with the possibility of switching to semi-automatic mode. The drive system allows the machine to accelerate up to 39 km/h when driving forward and up to 22 km/h when driving backward.
The machine has four-wheel drive, drive axles with differential lock and a hydrostatic steering system.
It is equipped with a ROPS cabin mounted on rubber shock absorbers, with a soundproofing package. The standard equipment includes, among others, tinted windows, ventilation and heating system, a rotating operator's seat, suspended and adjustable with a seat belt, adjustable steering column, work lights (2 front and 4 rear), a warning lamp and a radio installation.
The machine can work continuously, with an average load of up to 10 hours. The time to change the machine from the transport position to the working position with any attachment is a maximum of 10 minutes.
The machine is adapted for air transport by Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft and for rail transport. In the transport configuration it does not exceed the road and rail gauge, i.e. weight 8850 kg, width 2.3 m and length 6280 mm.
Work equipment
Loader work equipment
standard buckets with teeth or blade and forks,
multi-purpose buckets with teeth or blade,
snow blade
hydraulic quick-hitch: buckets with teeth or blade, pallet forks, snow blade and sweeper.
Excavator attachments
front-loading buckets with teeth,
trapezoidal bucket,
ditch-cleaning bucket,
hydraulic hammer
Standard equipment
excavator attachments (telescopic boom and bucket with teeth, capacity 0.2 m3, width 700 mm)
loader attachments (standard boom and multi-purpose bucket with teeth and tilting forks, capacity 1 m3)
stabilisation supports, hydraulically controlled.
Operators
Polish Land Forces (Currently 75 are in use.
See also
SŁ-34C
Bożena 4 (anti-mine minesweeper)
References
External links
Dane techniczne
Excavators
Military engineering vehicles | UMI 9.50M | [
"Engineering"
] | 679 | [
"Engineering vehicles",
"Military engineering",
"Military engineering vehicles"
] |
78,867,978 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/1852%20K1%20%28Chacornac%29 | Chacornac's Comet, formally designated as C/1852 K1, is a faint parabolic comet that was observed through telescopes between May and June 1852. It is the only comet discovered by French astronomer, Jean Chacornac, and is the parent body of the Eta Eridanids meteor shower.
Discovery and observations
Jean Chacornac made his only comet discovery from the Marseille Observatory on 16 May 1852, where he spotted a "faint, diffuse object" without a discernible tail nor nucleus on the constellation Cepheus. He later confirmed his discovery the following day.
References
Notes
Citations
External links
Non-periodic comets
Hyperbolic comets
Near-Earth comets
Meteor shower progenitors | C/1852 K1 (Chacornac) | [
"Astronomy"
] | 140 | [
"Astronomy stubs",
"Comet stubs"
] |
78,868,063 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Bayda%20gas%20station%20explosion | On 11 January 2025, a gas station and a storage tanker exploded in Yemen's Al-Zahir district, located in Al Bayda Governorate. The explosion and subsequent fire killed 40 people and injured at least 74 more, including 50 critically.
Background
The explosion occurred in Al Bayda Governorate in central Yemen, a region under the control of the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. The province has been a significant focal point in the ongoing Yemeni Civil War, which began in 2014, and has experienced numerous conflicts and incidents as part of the larger civil war context, such as the Al Bayda offensive and the 2024 al-Bayda bombing.
Explosion
The explosions took place in the Nassefa area of the Al-Zahir district, involving four gas stations and a gas storage container located in a popular market. The explosion occurred after a stray bullet from Houthis shooting at a car struck a nearby gas station. At the time of the explosions, the market was reportedly crowded with people, vendors, and vehicles. The explosions triggered an extensive fire that produced massive smoke columns visible from considerable distances. The blast destroyed numerous vehicles in the vicinity. At least 40 people were killed in the explosion. Among the 74 people injured in the incident, 50 sustained critical injuries. Rescue teams conducted searches for missing individuals.
References
Explosions in Yemen
Explosions in 2025
2025 in Yemen
2025 disasters in Asia
January 2025 events in Asia
Al Bayda Governorate | Al-Bayda gas station explosion | [
"Chemistry"
] | 293 | [
"Natural gas safety",
"Gas explosions"
] |
78,868,401 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold%20invariants | In mathematics, particularly in topology and knot theory, Arnold invariants are invariants introduced by Vladimir Arnold in 1994 for studying the topology and geometry of plane curves. The three main invariants—, , and —provide ways to classify and understand how curves can be deformed while preserving certain properties.
Background
The fundamental context for Arnold invariants comes from the Whitney-Graustein theorem, which states that any two immersed loops (smooth curves in the plane) with the same rotation number can be deformed into each other through a series of continuous transformations. These transformations can be broken down into three elementary types: direct self-tangency moves (where two portions of the curve become tangent with aligned directions, either creating or eliminating two self-intersection points), inverse self-tangency moves (similar to direct moves, but the tangent directions are opposite), and triple point moves (where three portions of the curve intersect at a single point).
J± invariants
The and invariants keep track of how curves change under these transformations and deformations. The invariant increases by 2 when a direct self-tangency move creates new self-intersection points (and decreases by 2 when such points are eliminated), while decreases by 2 when an inverse self-tangency move creates new intersections (and increases by 2 when they are eliminated). Neither invariant changes under triple point moves. A fundamental relationship between these invariants is that their difference equals the total number of self-intersection points in the curve. That is,
.
Mathematicians Oleg Viro and Eugene Gutkin discovered an explicit formula for calculating :
where ranges over the regions into which divides the plane, is the winding number around a point in region , and is the mean winding number at each self-intersection point . For example, a curve with curls in standard form has and , while a simple circle has .
Bridges and channels
In 2002, Spanish mathematicians Mendes de Jesus and Romero Fuster introduced the concepts of bridges and channels for plane curves to facilitate the calculation of Arnold invariants. A bridge consists of introducing a rectangle in the complement of the curve in the plane while respecting orientations, decomposing a given curve into two smaller curves with known invariants. The invariant of the original curve can then be obtained as a function of the invariants of these two component curves and the index of the bridge relative to the original curve. This decomposition technique is particularly powerful for analyzing curves with double points.
An important theorem regarding this decomposition states that a curve with double points is a tree-like curve if and only if it admits a decomposition into exactly n curves of types and with bridges having no double points, or a decomposition into exactly curves of type (isotopic to the circle) with bridges having double points. This result proved a conjecture originally proposed by Arnold regarding the formulas for families of tree-like curves. The bridge and channel technique provides a systematic method for computing Arnold invariants for plane curves in terms of simpler curves with at most one double point.
See also
Plane curve
Knot invariant
Whitney–Graustein theorem
Differential topology
References
Further reading
Santa Rosa, Lílian Neves (2010). Arnold Invariants of Plane Curves. Master's Thesis, Federal University of Viçosa.
Mendes de Jesus, C. Topological Invariants of Generic Maps from Oriented Compact Surfaces to the Plane. Doctoral Thesis, PUC-RIO, 2001.
Moraes, Simone M.; Sánchez, Catarina M. J. "Invariants of Closed Plane Curves". Proceeding Series of the Brazilian Society of Applied and Computational Mathematics, Vol. 3, N. 1, 2015.
Geometry
Differential topology
Knot theory
Knot invariants | Arnold invariants | [
"Mathematics"
] | 735 | [
"Topology",
"Differential topology",
"Geometry"
] |
78,868,615 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SN%201988Z | SN 1988Z was a prototypical type IIn supernova event in the equatorial constellation of Leo. The apparent host is an irregular galaxy with the designation MCG +03-28-22. It has a redshift of z equal to 0.0225. This was a very luminous supernova that faded unusually slowly and has remained detectable three decades after the event. It is one of the most radio and X-ray luminous supernova ever detected, and it has been extensively studied.
Observations
This event was discovered independently, both by C. Pollas at the Côte d'Azur Observatory on a photographic plate taken December 12, 1988, and by G. Candeo at the Asiago Astrophysical Observatory from a plate taken December 14. The supernova was already past maximum when it was discovered. A spectrum taken December 17 showed this was most likely a type II supernova.
This supernova displayed a number of unusual characteristics. It was unusually bright at maximum and showed very slow fading. There were strong, narrow emission lines caused by thick circumstellar material. Unlike a typical type II supernova, no P Cygni profiles or absorption lines were observed. Emission lines of neutral helium were also visible. The spectral lines displayed a complex structure that evolved over time. Decline in the Hydrogen-alpha line strength was unusually slow and lacked an explanation in terms of radioactive decay. The overall picture suggested interaction between the supernova ejecta and a dense circumstellar medium.
A year after the event, radio emission from the supernova was detected using the Very Large Array. The host galaxy shows a redshift of z equal to 0.022, making this the most distant radio supernova detected at that time. It was also one of the most luminous radio supernova discovered. The radio properties indicated a very massive progenitor star in the range of . In the late evolutionary stages of the star, it underwent a high rate of mass loss on the order of ·yr−1, which created a dense circumstellar cocoon. In 1996, X-ray emission from the supernova was detected by ROSAT, making it the most distant supernova to be detected in this band. The estimated X-ray luminosity was ·s−1, which is consistent with a supernova event within dense circumstellar material.
Most studies now favor a model of a very massive progenitor that ejected up to at a rate of around ·yr−1 for a period of about 10,000 years prior to the explosion. The mass loss rate ramped up during the final millennium prior to core collapse.
References
Further reading
Supernovae
Leo (constellation) | SN 1988Z | [
"Chemistry",
"Astronomy"
] | 549 | [
"Supernovae",
"Astronomical events",
"Constellations",
"Explosions",
"Leo (constellation)"
] |
78,868,644 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glauber%20multiple%20scattering%20theory | The Glauber multiple scattering theory
is a framework developed by Roy J. Glauber to describe the scattering of particles off composite targets, such as nuclei, in terms of multiple interactions between the probing particle and the individual constituents of the target. It is widely used in high-energy physics, nuclear physics, and hadronic physics, where quantum coherence effects and multiple scatterings are significant.
Description
The basic idea of the Glauber formalism is that the incident projectile is assumed to interact with each component of the complex target in turn as it moves in a straight line through the target. This assumes the eikonal approximation, viz that the projectile's trajectory is nearly straight-line, with only small-angle deflections due to interactions with the target component. The theory accounts for the fact that a projectile may interact with more than one constituent (e.g., the nucleons of a target nucleus) as it passes through the target nucleus. These interactions are treated coherently. The scattering amplitude is taken as the sum over contributions from multiple scatterings. This is done using the optical model, where the target nucleus is treated as a complex potential. In fact, coherent superposition of scattering amplitudes from all possible paths through the nucleus is a fundamental aspect, leading to phenomena like diffraction patterns. The theory often uses Gaussian or Woods-Saxon distributions for nuclear densities.
Formalism
The elastic scattering amplitude in Glauber theory is given by:
where: is the momentum transfer, is the impact parameter, is the eikonal phase shift representing the integrated interaction potential. For a nucleus, is expressed as the sum of contributions from individual nucleons, where is the transverse position of nucleon j.
At high energies, the above formalism simplifies by focusing on transverse geometry and neglecting effects like spin or low-energy dynamics. Relativistic corrections were not part of the original formalism, but have been included in modern applications when they are necessary (high-energy cases)
Other simplifications are that the theory assumes independent scatterings, neglects correlations between nucleons and, as an effective modeling, does not account for some QCD effects directly, which are significant at very small distances.
Applications
The Glauber theory has been applied to:
Elastic and inelastic scattering of protons, neutrons, and other particles off nuclei.
Heavy-ion collisions to describe the initial geometry of collisions and energy deposition.
High-energy diffraction in hadron-hadron or hadron-nucleus scattering.
EMC effect, specifically nuclear shadowing, in deep inelastic scattering.
Color transparency which describes how much of the projectile penetrates the target nucleus without being absorbed or deflected significantly.
See also
Roy J. Glauber
Coherent state
References
Quantum chromodynamics
Hadrons
Nuclear physics | Glauber multiple scattering theory | [
"Physics"
] | 586 | [
"Hadrons",
"Subatomic particles",
"Matter",
"Nuclear physics"
] |
78,868,829 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combat%20Engineer%20Battalion%20%28Norway%29 | The Combat Engineer Battalion (Norwegian: Ingeniørbataljonen) is a combat engineering support unit of the Norwegian Army. The battalion is mostly based at Camp Camp Skjold in Troms county in Northern Norway with two additional companies stationed at Rena Military Camp in Rena, Innlandet county.
The battalion is the largest unit in the Norwegian brigade and maintains broad operational capabilities. The Combat Engineer Battalion co-operates with other units of the Norwegian Armed Forces and of NATO, providing mine clearing, bridge demolition, as well as engineering divers.
History
The Combat Engeneer Battalion was established as a support unit in the former brigade, called Brigaden i Nord-Norge (Brig N). In its current form, it first became a separate full-scale operational battalion in 1987, when the NBC platoon in Troms Landforsvar (TLF) and the mechanical platoon in Hålogaland Engineer Battalion were merged with the brigade's Combat Engineer Company (abbr. INGKP/N). The Combat Engineer Company was established at the same time as the Brigade Nord, in 1953.
The year before the battalion was fully established, the Combat Engineer Company participated in the NATO winter exercise, called Anchor Express. On 5 March 1986, while excavating a track through a narrow valley in Vassdalen, a major avalanche struck 31 soldiers. Sixteen soldiers were killed in the accident. The avalanche came down the tall mountain Storebalak. The avalanche hit the valley about above the lake Hartvikvatnet.
During the rescue work after the landslide in Gjerdrum in December 2020, the battalion made significant contributions by supporting with personnel and material.
Princess Ingrid Alexandra began performing her military service with the battalion on 17 January 2024, and is set to remain part of the unit until April 2025. In September 2024, the Norwegian Royal Court announced that Ingrid Alexandra was serving as a gunner on a CV-90 infantry fighting vehicle.
Organisation
Armoured Engineer Company 1
Armoured Engineer Company 2
Armoured Engineer Company 3
Combat Engineer Company 4
Combat Engineer Company 5
Combat Engineer Company 6
CBRN Company
Two of the companies, Armoured Engineer Company 3 and Combat Engineer Company 5, are fully professional, with enlisted crews, while Armoured Engineer Company 1 is partly enlisted.
The engineer battalion is equipped with a comprehensive fleet of equipment that includes paving and amphibious equipment, construction machinery (armoured and unarmoured) and NBC protection and cleaning equipment.
Notes
References
Battalions of Norway
Norwegian military engineers
1987 establishments in Norway
Military units and formations established in 1987
Military engineering
Military units and formations of Norway | Combat Engineer Battalion (Norway) | [
"Engineering"
] | 516 | [
"Construction",
"Military engineering"
] |
78,869,128 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilbert%E2%80%93Arnold%20problem | In mathematics, particularly in dynamical systems, the Hilbert–Arnold problem is an unsolved problem concerning the estimation of limit cycles. It asks whether in a generic finite-parameter family of smooth vector fields on a sphere with a compact parameter base, the number of limit cycles is uniformly bounded across all parameter values. The problem is historically related to Hilbert's sixteenth problem and was first formulated by Russian mathematicians Vladimir Arnold and Yulij Ilyashenko in the 1980s.
Overview
The problem arises from considering modern approaches to Hilbert's sixteenth problem. While Hilbert's original question focused on polynomial vector fields, mathematical attention shifted toward properties of generic families within certain classes. Unlike polynomial systems, typical smooth systems on a sphere can have arbitrarily many hyperbolic limit cycles that persist under small perturbations. However, the question of uniform boundedness across parameter families remains meaningful and forms the basis of the Hilbert–Arnold problem.
Due to the compactness of both the parameter base and phase space, the Hilbert–Arnold problem can be reduced to a local problem studying bifurcations of special degenerate vector fields. This leads to the concept of polycycles—cyclically ordered sets of singular points connected by phase curve arcs—and their cyclicity, which measures the number of limit cycles born in bifurcations.
Local Hilbert–Arnold problem
The local version of the Hilbert-Arnold problem asks whether the maximum cyclicity of nontrivial polycycles in generic k-parameter families (known as the bifurcation number ) is finite, and seeks explicit upper bounds.
The local Hilbert–Arnold problem has been solved for and , with and . For , a solution strategy exists but remains incomplete. A simplified version considering only elementary polycycles (where all vertices are elementary singular points with at least one nonzero eigenvalue) has been more thoroughly studied. Ilyashenko and Yakovenko proved in 1995 that the elementary bifurcation number is finite for all .
In 2003, mathematician Vadim Kaloshin established the explicit bound .
See also
Bifurcation theory
Dynamical system
Hilbert's sixteenth problem
Limit cycle
List of unsolved problems in mathematics
References
Dynamical systems
Systems theory
Unsolved problems in mathematics | Hilbert–Arnold problem | [
"Physics",
"Mathematics"
] | 453 | [
"Unsolved problems in mathematics",
"Mathematical problems",
"Mechanics",
"Dynamical systems"
] |
78,869,296 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloydius%20changdaoensis | Gloydius changdaoensis is a species of Asian moccasin from Shandong Province, China. The name changdaoensis comes from the area it was first discovered in, Changdao County. As with all pit vipers, it is venomous. It has been named (as G. lijianlii) as one of the 30 most endangered viper species in 2016.
Taxonomy
It has been suggested to be synonymised with G. lijianlii by Simonov et al. in 2017 and Asadi et al. in 2019, but there has been no further support, so the validity of them as separate species is currently uncertain.
Previously considered a subspecies of G. intermedius or G. saxatilis, it has now been suggested as a full species due to its molecular distance from G. intermedius.
References
Endangered species
changdaoensis
Reptiles described in 1999
Reptiles of China | Gloydius changdaoensis | [
"Biology"
] | 187 | [
"Biota by conservation status",
"Endangered species"
] |
78,869,372 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree-like%20curve | In mathematics, particularly in differential geometry, a tree-like curve is a generic immersion with the property that removing any double point splits the curve into exactly two disjoint connected components. This property gives these curves a tree-like structure, hence their name. They were first systematically studied by Russian mathematicians Boris Shapiro and Vladimir Arnold in the 1990s.
For generic curves interpreted as the shadows of knots (that is, knot diagrams from which the over-under relations at each crossing have been erased), the tree-like curves can only be shadows of the unknot. As knot diagrams, these represent connected sums of figure-eight curves. Each figure-eight is unknotted and their connected sum remains unknotted. Random curves with few crossings are likely to be tree-like, and therefore random knot diagrams with few crossings are likely to be unknotted.
References
See also
Arnold invariants
Gauss diagram
Inflection point
Differential geometry
Curves | Tree-like curve | [
"Mathematics"
] | 196 | [
"Geometry",
"Geometry stubs"
] |
78,869,627 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CleanMyMac | CleanMyMac is a macOS maintenance and optimisation utility developed by MacPaw, first released in 2008. The software is designed to optimize system performance by removing unnecessary files and managing disk space.
As of 2023, the software has been downloaded over 20 million times and has received multiple awards, including the Red Dot Design Award, iF Design Award and the UX Design Award.
History
CleanMyMac was launched in 2008, with its initial code developed by Oleksandr Kosovan, CEO of MacPaw.
Company’s major releases launched in 2015, 2018 and 2024. By 2018, CleanMyMac had gained more than 5 million users.
In 2020, the software was awarded the iF Design Award and in 2021 – Red Dot Design Award. The same year it received support for Apple Silicon processors. In 2022, the software was nominated for Webby Awards. In 2023, MacPaw expanded its operations, opening an office in Boston in addition to an existing office in Kyiv.
Features
CleanMyMac offers features aimed at maintaining and optimizing macOS systems. It combines antivirus protection with tools for cleaning disk space, protecting user privacy, optimizing performance, updating applications, uninstalling software, and preventing malware and adware. The software’s malware removal functionality is powered by MacPaw's proprietary Moonlock Engine.
Key features include the ability to clear unused system files, log files, and temporary files. Additionally, the software provides optimization tools such as maintenance scripts, disk repair functions, and options for resetting system indexes and databases.
Software modules include Smart Care, Cleanup, Protection, Performance, Applications, My Clutter and Assistant. The Smart Care feature addresses system junk removal, malware detection, and RAM cleanup in a single process.
See also
Disk utility
Operating system
Logical Volume Manager
References
Utilities for macOS
MacOS-only proprietary software
2008 software
MacOS software
Utilities for Linux
Usability
Disk usage analysis software
Macintosh software stubs
Proprietary software
Computer system optimization software
Computer performance
Uninstallers for macOS | CleanMyMac | [
"Technology"
] | 424 | [
"Computer performance"
] |
78,871,905 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grahalaghava | Grahalāghavaṃ is a Sanskrit treatise on astronomy composed by Gaṇeśa Daivajna (c. 1507–1554), a sixteenth century astronomer, astrologer, and mathematician from western India, probably from the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is a work in the genre of the karaṇa text in the sense that it is in the form of a handbook or manual for the computation of the positions of the planets. Of all the ancient and medieval karaṇa texts on astronomy, Grahalāghavaṃ is the most popular among the pañcāṅgaṃ makers of most parts of India.It is also considered to be the most comprehensive, exhaustive and easy to use karaṇa text on astronomy. The popularity of this work is attested by the large number of commentaries (at least 14 in number) on it and also by the large number of modern editions (at least 23 in number) of the book. The work is divided into sixteen chapters and covers all the commonly discussed topics in such texts including planetary positions, timekeeping and calendar construction, eclipses, heliacal rising and settings, planetary conjunctions, and the mahāpāta-s.
The most striking features of the work that made it highly popular include its use of an ingenious method to reduce the traditional method of computations involving 'astronomical numbers' to smaller numbers and its meticulous and careful avoidance of the use of the trigonometrical sines by replacing them with simpler, still acceptably accurate, algebraic expressions. The former is effected by introducing the concept of a new cycle called a cakra, a period consisting of 4016 days which is approximately 11 years. Traditional computations make use the concept of ahargaṇa which is the number of civil days elapsed since the kali epoch which falls on 17/18 February 3102 BCE. The traditional ahargaṇa is a huge number. For example, the ahargaṇa corresponding to 1 January 2025 is 1872211. The ahargaṇa as modified in Grahalāghavaṃ is the remainder number of days after completing full cakra-s of 4016 days each since the beginning of the epoch. Thus the modified ahargaṇa corresponding to 1 January 2025 would be 755, a number less than 4016. To avoid the use of trigonometrical sines, Grahalāghavaṃ uses several approximations to the sine function. For example, in the context of computing the true longitudes of celestial objects, approximation formulas based on the following approximation to the sine function (known as the Bhāskara I's sine approximation formula) is used:
In the context of the computation of eclipses, the following approximation is used:
When is small, It may be noted that this is an approximation to the well known result when is in radians and is small.
Full texts
Full text of the work with commentaries in Sanskrit and with English translation are available at the following sources:
For an English translation of the full text of Grahalāghavaṃ see: Rao, S. Balachandra & S. K. Uma, Grahalaghavam of Ganesa Daivajna – an English Exposition, Mathematical Explanation and Notes, IJHS 41.1 (2006) Supplement pp. S1-88; 41.2 (2006) Supplement pp. S89-183; 41.3 (2006) Supplement pp. S185-315; 41.4 (2006) Supplement pp. S317-415.
References
Astronomy books
Hindu astronomy
Hindu astrological texts
History of mathematics
Indian astronomy texts | Grahalaghava | [
"Astronomy"
] | 742 | [
"Astronomy books",
"Works about astronomy"
] |
78,872,132 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li%20%28short%29 | The li () in Mandarin, or lei in Cantonese, is a traditional Chinese unit of length. One li equals 10 hao, 1/10 of a fen, 1/1000 of a chi, or 1/3 mm in China.
Chinese length units promulgated in 1915
Present law on Chinese length units
This law of length measurement was issued by the Chinese government in 1929, and has been effective since 1 January, 1930. The base unit chi is defined to be 1/3 meter.
Chinese length units in engineering
These units are based on the metric system. The Chinese word for metre is mǐ, which can take the Chinese standard SI prefixes (for "kilo-", "centi-", etc.). A kilometre, however, may also be called gōnglǐ, i.e. a metric lǐ.
In the engineering field, traditional units are rounded up to metric units.
Compounds
差之毫釐，謬以千里 (chāzhīháolí, miùyǐqiānlǐ)
See also
Li (length)
Fen (length)
Chinese units of measurement
References
History of science and technology in China
Units of length
Customary units of measurement | Li (short) | [
"Mathematics"
] | 236 | [
"Quantity",
"Customary units of measurement",
"Units of measurement",
"Units of length"
] |
78,872,240 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampirovibrionales | Vampirovibrionales is an order of cyanobacteria. It is the only order within class Vampirovibrionophyceae. The only species within this order which has been grown in cell culture is Vampirovibrio chlorellavorus.
See also
List of bacteria genera
List of bacterial orders
References
Cyanobacteria
Parasites of plants | Vampirovibrionales | [
"Biology"
] | 77 | [
"Algae",
"Cyanobacteria"
] |
69,916,760 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather%20of%202015 | The following is a list of weather events that occurred on Earth in 2015. There were several natural disasters around the world from various types of weather, including blizzards, cold waves, droughts, heat waves, tornadoes, and tropical cyclones.
Some of the deadliest weather events were a pair of heat waves affecting India and Pakistan which together killed around 4,500 people. Also in Asia, Cyclone Komen in July killed 187 people. A series of monsoonal floods in India killed 470 people in the last three months of the year. In October, heavy rainfall in Guatemala triggered a major landslide in a village near Guatemala City, killing at least 280 people. The costliest single weather event of the year was Typhoon Mujigae, which left ¥27 billion (US$4.3 billion) in damage and caused 27 deaths in southern China. In October, Hurricane Patricia became the strongest tropical cyclone ever recorded in the western hemisphere, when it attained 1 minute sustained winds of 215 mph (345 km/h) and a minimum pressure of off the west coast of Mexico.
Winter storms and cold waves
In February, blizzard and avalanches killed more than 300 people in Afghanistan. Also in February, a blizzard affected much of North America amid a cold wave, killing 30 people and leaving US$3.5 billion in damage.
Droughts, heat waves, and wildfires
From February to April, South Africa experienced wildfires. In April, wildfires in Russia killed 33 people. The yearly wildfires in the state of California killed nine people and left more than US$4.7 billion in damage. The yearly wildfires in the state of Washington was the largest in state history, with more than burning across the state from June to September. In November, wildfires in Western Australia killed four people.
In May, a heat wave in India killed at least 2,500 people. A month later, a heat wave in neighboring Pakistan killed about 2,000 people.
Drought across the western United States throughout the year caused more than US$5 billion in damage, mostly related to agriculture losses.
Floods
In January, floods in southeastern Africa killed more than 214 people in Malawi and Mozambique. In March, floods in Chile killed 25 people, and forced 3,000 people to stay in emergency shelters. Also in the month, floods in Tanzania killed 50 people. In April, a landslide in Salvador, Brazil killed at least 14 people. Also in the month, snowmelt triggered a landslide in Afghanistan, killing 52 people. In May, heavy rainfall triggered a landslide in Salgar, Colombia, killing 83 people. In June, floods in the country of Georgia killed 20 people. Also in June, heavy rainfall caused floods in Accra, the capital of the African nation of Ghana; the floods killed at least 25 people, while a petrol station explosion caused by the flooding killed at least 200 more people. In July, floods in Gujarat in western India killed 71 people and more than 81,000 cattle. Monsoon floods in India from October to December killed at least 470 people. In October, heavy rainfall in Guatemala triggered a major landslide in a village near Guatemala City, killing at least 280 people. Also in October, a cold front drew moisture from Hurricane Joaquin to produce floods across the eastern United States, killing 25 people and causing US$2.4 billion in damage.
Tornadoes
During the year, there were at least 1,178 tornadoes in the United States, which resulted in 36 fatalities.
In April, a tornado killed three people in Myanmar. A tornado outbreak in Pakistan killed 45 people. Also in April, a tornado in Brazil killed two people. In addition, the 2015 Rochelle–Fairdale, Illinois tornado caused 2 deaths, 19 injuries and $11 million across central Illinois. Finally in April, a tornado in Pakistan causes 45 deaths. An outbreak in May killed at least five people and left US$1.5 billion in damage. Also in May, a tornado in Mexico, part of the 2015 Texas-Oklahoma flood and tornado outbreak, killed 14 people. As a result of the storm's damaging effects, 45 people were killed and over 200 were wounded. In July, a tornado in Italy killed one person.
Tropical cyclones
As the year began, Tropical Storm Jangmi was dissipating in the South China Sea. There were 12 tropical cyclones in the year in the south-west Indian Ocean, including very intense tropical cyclones Bansi and Eunice, which both attained 10 minute sustained winds of at least 220 km/h (140 mph) in January. Also in the month, Tropical Storm Chedza moved across Madagascar, killing 80 people, mostly due to landslides. In the Australian region, there were 17 tropical cyclones. In February, two cyclones – Lam and Marcia made landfall in Australia in a 24 hour period, the first ever recorded instance of such an occurrence. Lam moved ashore Northern Australia, causing widespread flooding. Six hours later, Marcia made landfall on Queensland as a Category 5 severe tropical cyclone, causing A$750 million (US$587 million) in damage. There were 18 tropical cyclones in the South Pacific, including Cyclone Pam in March, which moved through Vanuatu with winds of 250 km/h (155 mph), causing 16 deaths and VT63.2 billion (US$600 million) in damage. There were also two subtropical cyclones in the South Atlantic Ocean, Bapo and Cari.
In the north-west Pacific Ocean, there were 38 tropical cyclones during the year. Its strongest was Typhoon Soudelor in August, with 10 minute sustained winds of 215 km/h (130 mph). Soudelor struck the Northern Mariana Islands, Taiwan and southeastern China, resulting in 59 deaths and over US$4 billion in damage. Also in August, Typhoon Goni killed 74 people and caused more than US$1 billion in damage. In October, Typhoon Mujigae hit Guangdong in southern China with 10 minute winds of 155 km/h (100 mph), the strongest recorded landfall in the country in the month. The typhoon caused ¥27 billion (US$4.3 billion) in damage and 27 deaths in China. In the north Indian Ocean, there were 12 tropical cyclones, including Cyclone Chapala, the strongest recorded cyclone to strike Yemen, which hit during the country's civil war. A week later, the cyclone was followed by Cyclone Megh, which killed 18 people on Socotra island. In June, a depression in western India killed 81 people and caused widespread floods. Also during the season, Cyclone Komen meandered over the northern Bay of Bengal, resulting in 187 deaths and US$2 billion in damage.
In the north-east Pacific Ocean, there were 31 tropical cyclones, half of which intensified into hurricanes. The strongest storm of the season was Hurricane Patricia, which on October 23 attained 1 minute sustained winds of 215 mph (345 km/h) and a minimum pressure of , making it the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded in the western hemisphere, and the second-strongest worldwide after Typhoon Tip in 1979. Patricia struck southwestern Mexico after weakening, causing at least two deaths and US$325 million in damage. The Atlantic hurricane season was quiet by contrast, with just 12 tropical cyclones. The strongest was Hurricane Joaquin, which hit the Bahamas in October with 1 minute sustained winds of 130 mph (215 km/h). Damage in the country was estimated at US$200 million. Joaquin also capsized the cargo ship SS El Faro, killing the crew of 33 people. Also during the season, Tropical Storm Erika produced flooding and landslides in Dominica when it moved through the Lesser Antilles in August, killing 30 people and causing US$482.8 million on the island.
References
Weather by year
Weather-related lists
2015-related lists | Weather of 2015 | [
"Physics"
] | 1,573 | [
"Weather",
"Physical phenomena",
"Weather-related lists",
"Weather by year"
] |
69,920,175 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max%20Planck%20Institute%20for%20Biological%20Intelligence | The Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence (; abbreviated MPI-BI) is a non-university research institute of the Max Planck Society. The institute is dedicated to basic research on topics in behavioral ecology, evolutionary biology and neuroscience. Research at the international institute focuses on how animal organisms acquire, store, apply and pass on knowledge about their environment in order to find ever-new solutions to problems and adapt to a constantly changing environment. Model organisms include Drosophila, zebrafish, mice and various bird species.
Structure and History
The board of directors manages the institute, with around 500 employees coming from more than 50 nations. One of the institute's directors is taking over as managing director for a specific time. As of February 2024, Manfred Gahr is the managing director of the institute.
The MPI-BI emerged in January 2022 from the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology (MPIN) and the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology (MPIO). Following a founding year, the legal founding of the institute took place on 1 January 2023.
Campus
The institute has two locations: At the nature-oriented Seewiesen campus, in the municipality of Pöcking near Starnberg, field research is combined with modern methods of behavioral biology. At the Martinsried campus in the southwest of Munich, neuroscientific research is currently the main focus. Here, laboratory experiments are combined with state-of-the-art methods such as optogenetics, connectomics or machine learning.
Scientific scope
Scientific research at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence is thematically divided into seven research departments and 17 independent research groups. Numerous thematic connections between the groups result in a lively exchange and numerous collaborations within the institute.
Biological intelligence describes the ability to achieve complex goals. Animal organisms are able to attain this for example by means of calculation, planning and decision-making—as individuals or in groups. The brains and the associated behavior that we can observe today are the result of evolution due to the successful adaptation to previously mastered challenges.
The goal of research at MPI-BI is to decipher the mechanisms of biological intelligence at its various levels. Research approaches ranging from the investigation of molecular interactions to those of entire groups of individuals. A particular focus lays on animal behavior in its natural environment, as the adaptation of biological systems occurs in harmony with their surroundings. The study of the brain in its natural environment thus provides insight, for example, into how organisms communicate with each other and change their environment, or how social interactions lead to the formation of differentiated societies.
Departments
Department Genes – Circuits – Behavior, headed by Herwig Baier
Department Evolution of Sensory and Physiological Systems, headed by Maude Baldwin
Department Synapses – Circuits – Plasticity, headed by Tobias Bonhoeffer
Department Circuits – Computation – Models, headed by Alexander Borst
Department Elektrons – Photons – Neurons, headed by Winfried Denk
Department Behavioural Neurobiology, headed by Manfred Gahr
Department Behavioural Ecology and Evolutionary Genetics, headed by Bart Kempenaers
Department Molecules – Signaling – Development, headed by Rüdiger Klein
External links
Homepage of the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence
News release regarding the merger of the MPI of Neurobiology and the MPI for Ornithology
References
Research in Germany
Education in Munich
Biological Intelligence
Neuroscience research centers in Germany
Ornithology
Neuroscience | Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence | [
"Biology"
] | 685 | [
"Neuroscience"
] |
69,931,337 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dap-ay | A dap-ay (Kankanaey and Applai), ato, or ator (Bontoc) is a paved raised ceremonial platform ringed with stone seats and with a central fireplace among the Cordilleran cultures in the northern Philippines. It primarily serves as a venue for meetings and public forums between the council of elders. It is the social, religious, and political center of a certain group of families within a village. The term itself is also used to refer to the indigenous process of decision-making by the elders, or to the council of elders themselves. Dap-ay also usually contain traditional dormitories for young boys in the village.
Among the Ilocano people, a dap-ayan or dap-ay refers to a similar gathering place used for discussions by village leaders.
Function
Political
The primary function of the dap-ay is as the meeting place for the council of elders. The council serves as the governing body of the community, with the authority to settle disputes or conflicts internally or with another village, pass judgement and punishments, issue laws, coordinate rituals and farming activities, and make decisions that affect the community as a whole.
The council of elders is informally elected and unpaid, with members chosen by age and experience. However, each adult male member of a community can participate in the council deliberations if they choose to.
The number of dap-ay in a village depends on its population and age. Each village usually has several. The number of families that a dap-ay includes can range from as little as 6 to as many as 60. Membership in a dap-ay is voluntary. Newly married couples will usually join the dap-ay of their parents.
The dap-ay in a given village usually take turns each year performing specialized functions for the village as a whole, which can range from religious sacrifices to planting fields, repairing irrigation ditches and paddy field walls, or maintaining trails. Members of the dap-ay are expected to equally share the expenses and labor requirements of these activities.
Dap-ay is also utilized by its members for arranging a mutual exchange of labor (called dang-as), for work that can not be done alone (like repairing the dikes in their rice terraces). The member requesting the service will usually offer an animal sacrifice (like a certain number of chickens) in exchange, which are used in the preparation rituals and eaten by the participants afterwards. Once arranged through the elders, all of the adult members of the dap-ay will devote one or two days in completing the task.
Religious
Various rituals are held in the dap-ay. The most notable being the Begnas (rice thanksgiving rituals of the Kankanaey).
War
The severed heads of defeated warriors from other communities are usually mounted on poles ( in Kankanaey) in the dap-ay.
Dormitories
The dap-ay also includes attached huts ( in Kankanaey) which are used as dormitories for unmarried boys and old men. These buildings were also utilized as a place for storing weapons, a barracks for training warriors, and a school for teaching the laws, histories, and traditions of the village.
The equivalent communal dormitory for unmarried girls is known as the ebgan (Kankanaey) or olog (Bontoc). Unlike the dap-ay, the ebgan did not host rituals or meetings, but served as a place for girls to learn various skills. It also served as the place for courtship.
Children were expected to sleep in these dormitories as soon as they stopped requiring parental support for feeding, locomotion, or bodily functions (usually at the age of seven or eight, ten in modern times). It is also during this transition that children begin wearing clothing (the bahag and alampay) for modesty. They still return to their parents' house to eat and assist with the chores during daytime.
Social
During daytime (usually in the early mornings and in the evenings), dap-ay (and ebgan) also functioned as village centers where adult members of the community can interact with each other or do communal activities. This is also the period where the children of the communal dormitories learn about village law and morality via interaction with their elders.
Other traditions
Among the Ilocano people, a "dap-ay" or "dap-ayan" refers to a similar gathering place used for discussions by village leaders. Unlike the Cordilleran dap-ay, however, a dap-ayan is a simple roofed structure. In modern times, dap-ayan are commonly used as a community center for storing produce, as well as showcasing the products of a community.
See also
Ijang
Indigenous Philippine shrines and sacred grounds
Barangay hall
Marae
Heiau
References
External links
Indigenous architecture
Austronesian spirituality
Igorot
Philippine folk culture
Infrastructure
Building types
Buildings and structures by type
Urban studies and planning terminology | Dap-ay | [
"Engineering"
] | 1,037 | [
"Construction",
"Buildings and structures by type",
"Infrastructure",
"Architecture"
] |
69,931,367 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler-737 | Kepler-737 is an M-type main-sequence red dwarf located 671 light-years away on the border of the constellation Cygnus.
Physical properties
General properties
Kepler-737 is around half the size of the Sun, with a mass of 0.51 solar masses and a radius of 0.48 solar radii. Its spectral class is M0V, its temperature is about , and it has a brightness of 0.045 solar luminosity. One Kepler Object of Interest (KOI) table claimed the star to be ~14 billion years old.
As for the logarithm of the relative abundance of iron and hydrogen, its metallicity [Fe/H] is , significantly lower than the Sun's. Its density is roughly , or about 3 times denser than the Sun; while its surface gravity is stronger than the Sun, with log g of .
Astrometry and characteristics
SIMBAD data indicate that its proper motion is /yr for right ascension, for declination, its parallax is .
Planetary system
The star has one known planet, Kepler-737b.
Kepler-737b was confirmed on May 18, 2016 from data collected earlier by the Kepler space telescope, notable for orbiting in the habitable zone but not likely to be habitable because it is tidally locked. It may, however, have atmospheric circulation that would distribute the heat around the planet, potentially making a large portion of it habitable, although given its stellar flux the most likely scenario is that the planet's surface is too hot to be habitable. Water on its surface could also distribute heat.
On the note of the Exoplanet Archive, Kepler-737b was dedicated that orbital period, transit mid-point, transit duration, Rp/Rs, and their errors are taken from DR24 KOI table.
References
Planetary systems with one confirmed planet
M-type main-sequence stars
Cygnus (constellation)
947 | Kepler-737 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 398 | [
"Cygnus (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
69,932,244 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cakewalk%20by%20BandLab | Cakewalk is a full-featured Digital audio workstation software package for audio and MIDI composing, recording, arranging, editing, mixing and mastering. It is developed and published under a free subscription licensing model by BandLab Technologies of Singapore for the Microsoft Windows platform.
Lineage
Sonar was the final flagship product of Cakewalk, Inc. of Boston, Massachusetts. After 30 years of operation, Cakewalk, Inc. was dissolved in November 2017 by its parent company, Gibson Brands. At this time, Gibson ceased all development and support of Cakewalk software with only the licensing and support forum servers kept running.
In February 2018, BandLab Technologies announced that it had purchased all of Cakewalk, Inc.’s intellectual property and some of its assets. BandLab's stated goal was continued development of the former company's flagship product, SONAR (now renamed Cakewalk by BandLab) as part of its portfolio of freeware digital audio workstation software. BandLab continues to maintain the old Cakewalk, Inc. licensing servers as a courtesy to owners of legacy products.
History
In addition to acquiring the intellectual property from Cakewalk, Inc., BandLab also hired former CTO Noel Borthwick and Senior Software Engineer Ben Staton (among other former Cakewalk staff) to continue development of the code.
The current Cakewalk by BandLab is descended directly from the SONAR code base as acquired by BandLab.
The first release of Cakewalk by BandLab was on April 4, 2018 and was restricted to bug fixes planned for SONAR, as well as string and art changes to reflect the name change from SONAR to Cakewalk by BandLab. It was followed by monthly bug fixes and stability updates, and by the fourth release new features began to be added. With each release, new features have continued to be added.
In June of 2023, BandLab announced that it would be discontinuing Cakewalk by BandLab, and it would be replaced by a redesigned and updated version that would see the return of the Sonar name, and would no longer be a free product.
Cakewalk by BandLab is currently still available for download without a paid license, and will only be updated for maintenance and bug fixes, while development for feature updates would shift towards Cakewalk Sonar, its updated paid counterpart.
Licensing
Cakewalk by BandLab is licensed via free subscription. In order to download and install the package and add-ons (which include the Cakewalk Studio Instruments bundle, Cakewalk Theme Editor, and a trial version of Celemony Melodyne), the user must first create an account at BandLab’s website, then download and run either the web installer or BandLab Assistant. Either of these will download and install Cakewalk by BandLab and the optional add-ons. After this, the license must be validated at least once every six months through an Internet connection or it will revert to “demo mode” and project saving will be disabled until it can be validated again. Offline validation is also possible via use of BandLab Assistant and a second computer system that is connected to the Internet.
See also
Comparison of digital audio editors
List of music software
List of MIDI editors and sequencers
References
External links
Digital audio workstation software
Audio recording software
Music production software
Electronic music software
Music software
Soundtrack creation software
Sound recording
Audio engineering
Windows multimedia software
2018 software | Cakewalk by BandLab | [
"Engineering"
] | 681 | [
"Electrical engineering",
"Audio engineering"
] |
69,932,838 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elektra%20Sound%20Recorders | Elektra Sound Recorders was Elektra Records's recording studio in Los Angeles, California, United States located at 962 La Cienega Boulevard. Electric Entertainment currently provides video production services at this location.
History
In 1958, Jac Holzman built the first Elektra studio at 116 West 14th Street, New York City, on the northern edge of Greenwich Village. In 1968, Holzman built Elektra Sound Recorders in West Hollywood, and ordered the second U.S.-bound Sound Techniques A Range mixing console for the studio. Elektra's Hollywood studio was used to record notable albums by The Doors, Bread, The Rolling Stones, The Stooges, Harry Chapin, Dan Fogelberg, Jackson Browne, and others.
Selected list of albums recorded at Elektra (by year)
Judy Collins: Who Knows Where the Time Goes - 1968
Tim Buckley: Happy Sad - 1968
Bread: Bread - 1969
Delaney & Bonnie: The Original Delaney & Bonnie & Friends - 1969
The Doors: The Soft Parade - 1969
The Rolling Stones: Let It Bleed - 1969
Dave Mason: Alone Together - 1970
The Doors: Morrison Hotel - 1970
Essra Mohawk: Primordial Lovers - 1970
Stalk-Forrest Group: St. Cecilia: The Elektra Recordings - 1970
The Stooges: Fun House - 1970
Paul Siebel: Jack-Knife Gypsy - 1971
Bread: Guitar Man - 1972
Harry Chapin: Heads & Tales - 1972
Harry Chapin: Sniper and Other Love Songs - 1972
David Gates: First - 1973
Dan Fogelberg: Souvenirs - 1974
Ian Matthews: Some Days You Eat the Bear - 1974
Jackson Browne: Late for the Sky - 1974
Bonnie Raitt: Home Plate - 1975
David Gates: Never Let Her Go - 1975
Elliott Murphy: Lost Generation - 1975
Outlaws: Outlaws - 1975
Keith Carradine: I'm Easy - 1976
Warren Zevon: Warren Zevon - 1976
Bread: Lost Without Your Love - 1977
Joe Cocker: Luxury You Can Afford - 1978
References
External links
Recording studios in California
Audio engineering
Music of Los Angeles
Sunset Boulevard (Los Angeles)
Companies based in Los Angeles
Entertainment companies based in California | Elektra Sound Recorders | [
"Engineering"
] | 445 | [
"Electrical engineering",
"Audio engineering"
] |
69,934,691 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igor%20Dzyaloshinskii | Igor Ekhielevich Dzyaloshinskii, (Игорь Ехиельевич Дзялошинский, surname sometimes transliterated as Dzyaloshinsky, Dzyaloshinski, Dzyaloshinskiĭ, or Dzyaloshinkiy, 1February 193114July 2021) was a Russian theoretical physicist, known for his research on "magnetism, multiferroics, one-dimensional conductors, liquid crystals, van der Waals forces, and applications of methods of quantum field theory". In particular he is known for the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction.
Biography
He was born in Moscow to a Jewish family. His father, Yechiel Moiseevich Dzyaloshinskii (1897–1942), a native of Kalush, Ukraine, died in captivity in early 1942.
The first in his family to attend a university, Igor E. Dzyaloshinskii graduated in 1953 from the faculty of physics of Moscow State University.
Dzyaloshinski pursued graduate study at the Institute of Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, where he received in 1957 his Russian Candidate of Sciences degree (Ph.D.) with a thesis on weak ferromagnetism under the supervision of Lev Landau. Weak ferromagnetism is "a small spontaneous magnetic moment in certain classes of antiferromagnetic materials". Its explanation involves exchange interactions based upon "concepts of the magnetic symmetry of crystals".
In 1962 Dzyaloshinskii received his Russian Doctor of Sciences degree (habilitation). His Russian doctoral thesis dealt with application of quantum field theory methods in statistical physics. In 1964 he was one of the founding members of the Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics in Moscow. He was until 1972 a professor at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and from 1972 to 1989 at Moscow State University.
Between 1958 and 1961, with Alexei Abrikosov and Lev Gor'kov, he published important works on the application of methods of quantum field theory in statistical physics (e.g. the theory of superconductivity) and many-particle theory, about which the three also wrote an outstanding textbook Методы квантовой теории поля в статистической физике, which was published in Russian in 1961 and in English translation as Quantum field theory methods in statistical physics in 1963. Dzaloshinskii did important research with Lev Pitaevskii in solving "the problem of the van der Waals forces between bodies separated by an absorbing liquid" and with Yury Bychkov and Lev Gor’kov on the "problem of superconducting and charge-density-wave instabilities in 1D conductors". Dzyaloshinskii and Anatoly Larkin in the 1970s published "a solution to the Luttinger-liquid problem that is central to the theory of 1D Fermi systems and to the bosonization technique."
In 1991 he immigrated to the United States and soon became a professor at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), where he eventually retired as professor emeritus. In the last years of his career, he did research on violation of time-parity in magneto-optics and the condensed matter physics of Fermi liquids and non-Fermi liquids.
Dzyaloshinskii applied diagram methods to finite-temperature transport problems. He conjectured the existence of phase transitions without fixed points of the renormalization group. He was involved in the formulation of the Matsubara formalism (Takeo Matsubara, 1955).
Dzyaloshinskii was awarded in 1972 the Lomonosov Prize, in 1975 the Order of the Badge of Honour, in 1981 the Order of the Red Banner of Labour, in 1984 the USSR State Prize, and in 1989 the Landau Prize. He was elected in 1974 a corresponding member of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, in 1991 an honorary foreign member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, in 1996 a fellow of the American Physical Society, and in 2002 a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
He married in 1960. Upon his death, he was survived by his widow, their daughter, three grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
Selected publications
Articles
Gorkov, Abrikosov, & Dzyaloshinski On the application of Quantum field theory methods to problems of quantum statistics at finite temperature, Sov.Phys.JETP, Vol. 9, 1959, p. 636 (JETP, Vol. 36, 1959, p. 900)
Books
Abrikosov, Gorkov, & Dzyaloshinskii Quantum field theory methods in statistical physics, Prentice Hall 1963, 2nd edition Pergamon Press 1965, new edition Dover 1975
References
External links
(publication list)
1931 births
2021 deaths
Russian theoretical physicists
Condensed matter physicists
Soviet physicists
Jewish American physicists
Jewish Russian physicists
20th-century Russian physicists
21st-century Russian physicists
20th-century American physicists
21st-century American physicists
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
Moscow State University alumni
Academic staff of Moscow State University
Academic staff of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
University of California, Irvine faculty
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
Fellows of the American Physical Society
Recipients of the USSR State Prize
Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour
Soviet Jews
Scientists from Moscow
American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent | Igor Dzyaloshinskii | [
"Physics",
"Materials_science"
] | 1,161 | [
"Condensed matter physicists",
"Condensed matter physics"
] |
69,935,901 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19%20naming | During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the disease and virus were sometimes called "coronavirus", "novel coronavirus", "Wuhan coronavirus", or "Wuhan pneumonia".
In January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) tentatively named it "2019-nCoV", short for "2019 Novel Coronavirus", or "2019 Novel Coronavirus Acute Respiratory Disease". This naming was based on the organization's 2015 guidelines for naming novel viruses and diseases, avoiding the use of geographic locations (such as Wuhan), in part to prevent social stigma. A similar structure has also been used by the AP when referring to virus variants, for example, referring to it as the "Delta variant" rather than the "South African variant".
On 11 February 2020, the WHO named the disease COVID-19 (short for coronavirus disease 2019). That same day, the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) formally announced it had named the causative virus as SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) based upon its genetic similarity to the 2003 SARS-CoV. The separation between the disease and the causative virus is based on the same nomenclature policies that separate AIDS and the virus which causes it, HIV.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus explained that CO stands for coronavirus, VI for virus, and D stands for disease, while 19 stands for the year, 2019, that the outbreak was first detected. As such, there has never been a "COVID-1" or any other "COVID-" series disease with a number below 19.
Chinese virus
From January to March 2020, US President Donald Trump repeatedly described the virus as the "Chinese virus". In March 2020, the president claimed to have abandoned the term, telling Fox News "we shouldn't make any more of a big deal out of it". On March 18 and 19, 2020, Trump twice defended using the term "Chinese virus" amid instances of bigotry against Asians in the United States. Trump referred to it as "the China Virus" at least as late as January 2021.
This description was also used by members of the Spanish far-right political party Vox, especially by its leader Santiago Abascal in March 2020.
CCP virus
The Epoch Times has reportedly funded right-wing groups promoting the use of the term "CCP virus" to lay blame on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for the pandemic. Chinese-born New Zealand sculptor Chen Weiming created a 20-foot statue in Liberty Sculpture Park in Yermo, California, depicting Chinese leader and CCP general secretary Xi Jinping with spike proteins as his hair, naming it "CCP virus".
Stylization
Stylization of the term has varied since the virus's and disease's discovery. The World Health Organization (WHO) stylizes the disease as COVID-19 with all letters capitalized and many other organizations have followed their lead. The AP Stylebook, Chicago Manual of Style, and the Modern Language Association (MLA) have styled it similarly. Several observers have noted the importance of proper stylization, despite the seeming ridiculousness of worrying over such matters "at a time like this" (during the early days of the pandemic), recalling the confusion and prejudice which resulted from unclear or inconsistent naming as was the case with AIDS (which was called GRID/HTLV-III/LAV at various times) and non-A, non-B Hepatitis. They have also pointed out that future researchers will benefit from consistency when reviewing past data and research.
However, stylization as "Covid-19" has become common as well. Numerous news sources including The New York Times, CNN, Politico, The Wall Street Journal, NBCNews have presented the term with a capital C but all other letters as lower case. As a result, use of "Covid-19" has become commonplace and even the accepted standard in some cases. Use of "Covid-19" in news sources from the United Kingdom like The Guardian has also been the norm since most British newspapers only capitalize an entire acronym if the acronym is typically spelled out like "B-B-C" or "N-H-S" while acronyms which are pronounced as words, like "Nasa" or "Unicef" have their first letter capitalized and all subsequent letters lowercase.
While COVID-19 refers to the disease and SARS-CoV-2 refers to the virus which causes it, referring to the "COVID-19 virus" has been accepted. Reference to SARS-CoV-2 as "the coronavirus" has become somewhat accepted despite such use implying that there is only one coronavirus species. Similarly, use of "COVID" for the disease (if first rendered as COVID-19) has been tolerated. Use of "the Coronavirus" to refer to the COVID-19 pandemic which began in December 2019 has also been accepted. Although such use does not specify the year or which coronavirus-related disease is being referred to, given its all-encompassing impact at the time, such references have been deemed justifiable. Use of "the" when referring to the disease, virus, or 2019 pandemic has been quite varied with some requiring use of "the" while others have not. The Oxford English Dictionary noted that "the" is typically not used when referring to the disease, COVID-19, but is not uncommon when referring to the virus.
Reference to the virus and/or the disease as "corona", "the corona", and "the rona" has also arisen in various parts of the world.
Colloquial names
Numerous mutations and variants of SARS-CoV-2 have acquired colloquial vis-à-vis scientific labels for ease of pronunciation and usage, both in the lab and to some extent in mass media. The nomenclature draws from the corpus of mythology (both Greek and Scandinavian) and astronomy.
Public messaging has been a concern given that these elements of popular reportage can be at variance with the Greek alphabet nomenclature established by the WHO; other schemes have been proposed.
Variants
Arcturus (XBB.1.16) was named on social media after the star; Kraken (XBB.1.5), Cerberus (BQ.1.1), Typhon (BQ.1), and Gryphon (XBB) were coined by evolutionary biologist T. Ryan Gregory (from his own personal nomenclature of mythical creatures); whereas Pelican, Quail, and Mockingbird (variants of 20I/501Y.V1), have not gained wider usage. The BA.2.86 variant was named 'pirola' (sic) by a group of scientists on social media in late 2023, and was brought to public attention by an August edition of the Wall Street Journal. (Inasmuch as the World Health Organization has suggested using astronomy for its plethora of names, the Twitter user @JPWeiland suggested the obscure Jovian asteroid 1082 Pirola "for its uniqueness" and the possibility of shifting the nomenclature to Pi or Rho if needed.) Two KP.2 variants which rose to prominence in the U.S. in late May 2024 are commonly known by the acronym FLiRT, the responsible mechanisms being a phenylalanine (F) to leucine (L) mutation and an arginine (R) to threonine (T) mutation in the virus's spike protein.
Mutations
Nicknames have also arisen for mutations such as Nelly (N501Y), Doug (and Douglas) (D614G), and even Eeek (E484K), initially meant as convenient labels in University of Bern lab discourse.
See also
Virus classification
References
COVID-19
classification
Medical classification
History of medicine | COVID-19 naming | [
"Biology"
] | 1,658 | [
"Virus taxonomy",
"Viruses",
"Taxonomy (biology)"
] |
69,936,230 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob%20Franckaert%20the%20Elder | Jacob Franckaert or Jacob Franquart (the Elder) (1550–51 – 6 September 1601 (buried)) was a Flemish painter and draftsman. After training in Antwerp, he worked in Brussels and later moved to Italy where he worked in Naples and Rome. He is known for his religious subjects, landscapes and architectural scenes.
Life
Franckaert was born in Antwerp in 1550 or 1551. It is not known with whom he studied. He became a master in the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke in 1571. He married Michaela del Tronco. A son, also called Jacob was born in 1582 or 1583 and a daughter named Suzanna was born around 1584. Jacob the Elder was still recorded as a master painter at the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke in 1585.
He travelled with his family via Paris to Italy in 1591. In Naples he started a collaboration with Wenceslas Cobergher, a Flemish painter who had trained in Antwerp with the leading history painter Maerten de Vos. They executed several paintings for the city's churches. It is difficult to discern in these works the contribution of either artist.
Jacob the Elder moved with his family to Rome in 1594. Cobergher joined them and the two artists continued their collaboration. Four months after the death of his first wife, Cobergher married Jacob's daughter Suzanna in Rome on 20 November 1599. At the time the Franckaert family was registered in the register of the parish of San Lorenzo in Rome and they were still registered there in March 1601. Jacob the elder was likely the teacher of his son Jacob the younger.
Jacob died on 6 September 1601 in Rome. His widow died not long after. Their son Jacob the went to live with his sister Susanna and her husband Cobergher.
Work
Franckaert painted and drew religious subjects, landscapes and architectural scenes. He collaborated on various paintings with Cobergher. He is now mainly known for a small number of landscape and architectural drawings. The only known signed drawing is The Temple of Minerva Medica and other ruins on the Esquiline, Rome in the collection of the Vatican, which is signed 'Van Franckaert'. This drawing has served as the basis of attributions of other drawings of Roman views in the Berlin Kunstbibliothek, the Louvre and the Rijksmuseum.
On 23 February 1601 Franckaert together with three other Flemish painters working in Rome entered into a contract with the Spanish noble Don Pietro di Toledo, fifth marquis of Villafranca for the execution of ninety paintings of hermits at the price of 15 escudos per piece and 400 paintings of Roman emperors and other prominent figures of Antiquity. The other Flemish painters were Paul Bril, a leading landscape painter, the rather obscure landscape artist Willem van Nieulandt the Elder and Franckaert's son-in-law and collaborator Cobergher. Thirty of the paintings of hermits are now in the collection of the Monastery of the Anunciada in Villafranca del Bierzo. These works were partially based on prints after designs by the Flemish artist Maerten de Vos. The contribution of each of the artists in the paintings cannot be determined with certainty.
References
External links
1550s births
1601 deaths
Flemish Renaissance painters
Painters from Antwerp | Jacob Franckaert the Elder | [
"Engineering"
] | 691 | [] |
69,936,502 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperphoton | A hyperphoton is a hypothetical particle with a very low mass and spin equal to one. The hypothesis of the existence of hyperphotons is an explanation for the violation of CP-invariance in the two-pion decay of a long-lived neutral kaon . According to this hypothesis, there is a long-range very weak field generated by hypercharged particles (for example, baryons), whose quantum carrier is a hyperphoton, which acts differently on and mesons whose hypercharges differ in signs.
Criticism of the hypothesis
This hypothesis contradicts a number of experimental data and theoretical principles of physics. Thus, it follows that the probability of two-photon decay of a long-lived neutral kaon is proportional to the square of the kaon energy in the laboratory reference frame, which does not agree with experimental data on its independence from the kaon energy. The experimental data also contradict such a consequence of this hypothesis as a very high probability of hyperphoton emission during the decay of a long-lived neutral kaon and when a charged kaon decays into a one charged pion. This hypothesis implicitly uses the action at a distance rejected by modern physics. In addition, it implies a violation of the equivalence principle.
See also
Fifth force
List of hypothetical particles
References
Hypothetical elementary particles
Physics beyond the Standard Model
Force carriers | Hyperphoton | [
"Physics"
] | 278 | [
"Physical phenomena",
"Force carriers",
"Unsolved problems in physics",
"Fundamental interactions",
"Particle physics",
"Hypothetical elementary particles",
"Physics beyond the Standard Model"
] |
69,937,007 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group%201%20CD1-restricted%20T%20cells | Group 1 CD1-restricted T cells are a heterogeneous group of unconventional T cells defined by their ability to recognize antigens bound on group 1 CD1 molecules (CD1a, CD1b and CD1c) with their TCR. Natural killer T (NKT) cells are a similar population with affinity to CD1d (the only group 2 CD1 molecule). Both groups recognize lipid antigens in contrast to the conventional peptide antigens presented on MHC class 1 and 2 proteins. Most identified T-cells that bind group 1 CD1 proteins are αβ T cells and some are γδ T cells. Both foreign and endogenous lipid antigens activate these cells.
The TCR usually recognizes the hydrophilic part of the antigen which protrudes outwards from the CD1 protein after the lipid chains are bound in a groove. Small hydrophobic antigens lacking a polar part have also been shown to activate CD1a-restricted T cells, indicating that in this case the TCR may bind CD1 directly following displacement of nonimmunogenic ligands.
Group 1 CD1 proteins
Group 1 CD1 (CD1a, CD1b, CD1c) is a family of surface glycoproteins expressed on Dendritic cells, Langerhans cells and in some stages of thymocyte maturation. Some subsets of B cells express CD1c. These proteins are related to MHC class 1 molecules but have a high affinity for the lipidic moieties of antigens. Mice lack any counterpart for group 1 CD1 proteins, which has complicated the research of in vivo function.
CD1 proteins are structurally similar to MHC class 1 proteins, containing 3 domains and non-covalently bound β2 microglobulin. They lack the genetic diversity typical of MHC genes and have a very limited number of polymorphisms, most of which produce silent mutations. Their variability reflects the limited scale of the lipid repertoire found in organisms compared to the large variety of proteins. Proteins can also easily acquire mutations, whereas the multi-step process of lipid synthesis is much less likely to change.
On their way through the endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus they acquire nonimmunogenic lipid spacers. These spacers were identified to be diacylglycerides or deoxyceramides and their variety may explain the broad range of lipid chain lengths that group 1 CD1 proteins can accommodate, as the spacers have been observed to slide into different positions for different antigens. After CD1 proteins reach the surface of the cell, they are internalized and the members show different patterns of localization with CD1b trafficking through late endosomes and lysosomes and CD1a localizing mostly in early endosomes. CD1c broadly localizes in a combination of the above-mentioned compartments. CD1 proteins exchange their spacers for immunogenic ligands in endosomes and lysosomes with the help of several lipid transfer proteins (including CD1e).
Function
In vivo studies have been hindered by the lack of orthologous proteins in mice. Humanized or transgenic mice are used to overcome this discrepancy and some studies use different animal species. Their function in Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection has been the main focus in past research.
Group 1 CD1-restricted T cells are more similar to conventional T cells because their response takes days to weeks and they exhibit an accelerated response after prior immunization. This differs from their group 2 counterparts (Natural killer T ceCortical thymocyteslls) which react swiftly but undergo anergy following reexposure.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection
Many lipid antigens of Mycobacterium tuberculosis have been identified, including: mycolic acid, glucose and glycerol monomycolates, lipoarabinomannan, phosphatidylinositol mannoside, diacylsulfoglycolipid, mannosyl-β-1-phosphomycoketide and didehydroxymycobactin. Most of these antigens are bound to CD1b.
Group 1 CD1-restricted T cells are activated after Mycobacterium infection and produce IFN-γ and TNF-α (Th1 type response). These cells can be double negative (CD4−CD8−), CD4+ or CD8+ and possess strong cytotoxic capabilities. Studies using CD1b tetramers presenting the mycobacterial product glucose monomycolate identified two CD4+ TCRαβ+ T cell populations which differ from the otherwise variable TCR composition of previously isolated subsets, one termed 'GEM (Germline-encoded, mycolyl-reactive)' for their conserved TCR repertoire (specifically TRAV1-2+TRAJ9+) and 'LDN5-like' (TRBV4-1+). These cells are rare in individuals that have not encountered Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
CD1 expression is downregulated in antigen presenting cells infected with live Mycobacteria, perhaps as a means of immune evasion. This downregulation can be also found in some leukemia cells.
Autoreactivity
Group 1 CD1-restricted T cells can be activated by endogenous lipids, including gangliosides (GM1,GD1a, GD1b, GT1b, and GQ1b), sulfatides, sphingomyelin, phophatidylglycerol, lysophospholipids, squalene, wax esters, and triacylglycerides.
Methyl-lysophosphatidic acids (mLPAs) are rare in healthy monocytes and B cells but are abundant in leukemic cells. CD1c self-reactive T cells were found to kill acute leukemia cells expressing CD1c binding these lipids.
CD1a self-reactive T cells were found in the blood of healthy individuals. These cells express skin-homing receptors and produce interleukin 22 after binding CD1a on Langerhans cells. CD1a binds many endogenous lipids found in skin-oil and is able to activate T-cells even with ligands that lack a hydrophilic part, e.g. squalene.
CD8+ TCR αβ+ CD1b T cells have been found in the central nervous system of patients with multiple sclerosis. They recognized glycolipids and secreted IFN-γ and TNF-α.
Other autoimmune diseases where group 1 CD1 restricted T cells might contribute include psoriasis and systemic lupus erythematosus.
References
Cells
Immune system | Group 1 CD1-restricted T cells | [
"Biology"
] | 1,429 | [
"Immune system",
"Organ systems"
] |
69,939,547 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsulfavirine | Elsulfavirine (trade name Elpida; also known as VM 1500) is drug used to treat HIV infection. It is a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI). Elsulfavirine is a prodrug which is metabolized to the active antiviral agent deselsulfavirine (also known as VM 1500A). It was developed by the Russian company Viriom.
In June 2017, elsulfavirine was approved for use in Russia as an oral formulation for the treatment of HIV-1 infections in combination with other antiretroviral drugs. Currently, elsulfavirine is used in antiretroviral therapy regimens in the Russian Federation, which includes the combination elsulfavirine + lamivudine (or emtricitabine) + tenofovir.
Long-acting injectable formulations of eslulfavarinin and deselsulfavarine are under investigation.
In addition, Roche is investigating the use of elsulfavirin for the treatment of COVID-19 and it is currently in Phase II clinical trials for this possible indication.
References
Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors
Prodrugs
Benzonitriles
Diphenyl ethers
Sulfonamides | Elsulfavirine | [
"Chemistry"
] | 273 | [
"Chemicals in medicine",
"Prodrugs"
] |
69,940,258 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europa-Lehrmittel | The Verlag Europa-Lehrmittel Nourney, Vollmer GmbH & Co. KG (English: European educational media), based in Haan (district Gruiten) near Düsseldorf, Germany, develops educational media for vocational training and further education as used in vocational schools, universities, companies and further education institutions for industrial-technical, business, social, health as well as gastronomic professions. The contents are delivered in print as well as in digital formats, including offered as apps, simulations, software and through an exam preparation portal. The publisher has its own digital learning platform, the .
General partner is Nourney, Vollmer & Co. GmbH, a school and specialist book publisher.
History
The publishing house was founded in Wuppertal in 1948, when the first books were published. In Eislingen/Fils a construction office was set up to create the technical drawings for the textbooks - today the drawing office of the publisher in Ostfildern. A little over 40 years later, in 1989, a new company building was built in Haan-Gruiten.
In 1997, Europa-Lehrmittel acquired the with its program aimed at gastronomic professions. Further program expansions in vocational training were realized by adding titles of the publishing houses Lau, Gerber, Pluspunkt, parts of the program and that of the Gildebuchverlag.
In 2013, the scientific and technical university titles of Verlag Harri Deutsch were taken over, including the bestselling "Handbook of Mathematics" by Ilya Nikolaevich Bronstein and Konstantin Adolfovic Semendyayev. In addition, Europa-Lehrmittel's first exam apps appeared.
In 2017, the publisher introduced its own digital learning platform named Europathek. The (English: Examination Doc) platform, which enables targeted online preparation for exams, went online the same year.
In 2018, the titles of the Düsseldorf publishing house SOL for self-organized learning were incorporated into Europa-Lehrmittel's program.
Program
The program meanwhile includes well over 2000 print and digital publications, including specialist titles on metal technology, automotive and electrical engineering (like "" (English: Metal Book of Tables)), on business administration, as well as works for the gastronomic profession (e.g. "" (English: The Young Cook)).
Many titles also appear as licensed editions in over 20 different languages on all continents.
All contents are presented in an annual catalog, on the website, in schools, in companies, and at trade fairs and congresses.
The publisher is a member of the .
Digital educational media
: In addition to digital books, also provides media packages, additional materials and e-learning contents. The online contents of the 'media shelf' can be used per web browser. There are also software versions and apps for offline use, with the help of which the obtained titles can be viewed after downloading.
(English: Examination Doc): offers web-based learning, practice and repetition to prepare for the intermediate and final examinations. This includes simulations of the exams with direct evaluation of the results.
References
External links
Publisher website
Prüfungsdoc: Online courses for exam preparation
Europathek: 'Digital media' shelf
1948 establishments
Book publishing companies of Germany
Educational book publishing companies
Textbook publishing companies
Digital media | Europa-Lehrmittel | [
"Technology"
] | 678 | [
"Multimedia",
"Digital media"
] |
69,940,594 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecilia%20Gerber | Cecilia Elena Gerber is an Argentine-American experimental high-energy physicist whose research involves massive elementary particles: the top quark and Higgs boson. She is UIC Distinguished Professor of Physics and director of undergraduate studies in physics at the University of Illinois Chicago, and the co-director of the LHC Physics Center at Fermilab. Her research has included participation in the DØ experiment at Fermilab and the Compact Muon Solenoid experiment at the Large Hadron Collider in France and Switzerland.
Education and career
Gerber earned a licenciada in Physics from the University of Buenos Aires in 1990. While continuing at the University of Buenos Aires as a doctoral student, she came to Fermilab as a visiting student, to work on the DØ experiment there, part of an initiative by Leon M. Lederman to involve Latin American physicists in Fermilab's research. She completed her Ph.D. through the University of Buenos Aires in 1995, supervised by Ricardo N. Piegaia.
After postdoctoral research at Fermilab, she joined the University of Illinois Chicago in 2000.
Recognition
In 2010, Gerber was elected as a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS), after a nomination from the APS Division of Particles and Fields, "for her numerous contributions to the D0 experiment, especially the implementation of the D0 muon and silicon trackers and the elucidation of the characteristics of top quarks in the strong production of top-antitop pairs and the electroweak production of single top quarks". She was named to the 2021 class of Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
References
External links
Home page
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
American physicists
American women physicists
Argentine physicists
Argentine women physicists
Experimental physicists
Particle physicists
University of Buenos Aires alumni
University of Illinois Chicago faculty
Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
Fellows of the American Physical Society
People associated with CERN | Cecilia Gerber | [
"Physics"
] | 410 | [
"Particle physicists",
"Experimental physics",
"Experimental physicists",
"Particle physics"
] |
69,945,236 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anixia%20bresadolae | Anixia bresadolae is a species of fungus belonging to the Agaricomycetes class. It was described 1902 by Austrian mycologist Franz Xaver Rudolf von Höhnel. It occurs in Europe.
References
Agaricomycetes
Fungi of Europe
Taxa named by Franz Xaver Rudolf von Höhnel
Fungi described in 1902
Fungus species | Anixia bresadolae | [
"Biology"
] | 74 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
69,945,445 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phallus%20coronatus | Phallus coronatus is a species of fungus belonging to the genus Phallus. It is found in Vietnam. It was documented in 2014.
References
Phallales
Fungi of Asia
Fungus species | Phallus coronatus | [
"Biology"
] | 41 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
69,950,666 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy%20of%20Aerospace%20Solid%20Propulsion%20Technology | The Academy of Aerospace Solid Propulsion Technology or AASPT (in Chinese: 航天动力技术研究院), also known as "The Fourth Academy", is a conglomerate of Chinese state-owned enterprises that develops rocket engines that use solid fuel. The group, which employs around 10,000 people, includes some ten entities located in the Shaanxi and Hubei regions, and is headquartered in Xi'an. AASPT is a subsidiary of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC).
Activity
AASPT is China's leading solid fuel propulsion specialist. In particular, it develops DF-31 ground-to-ground ballistic missiles, JL-2 sea-to-ground ballistic missiles, apogee engines for geostationary telecommunications satellites, and China's new Long March 11 light launcher. AASPT employs some 4,000 researchers and senior technicians, and comprises five research institutes, three factories and five subsidiaries. Its total revenue was 5.4 billion yuan in 2014.
See also
Chinese space program
China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC)
Academy of Aerospace Liquid Propulsion Technology (AALPT)
References
External links
Official website
Aerospace companies
Research institutes in China
Space program of the People's Republic of China
China, PR | Academy of Aerospace Solid Propulsion Technology | [
"Astronomy",
"Engineering"
] | 260 | [
"Space programs",
"Outer space",
"Astronomy stubs",
"Space programs by country",
"Outer space stubs"
] |
69,950,668 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy%20of%20Aerospace%20Liquid%20Propulsion%20Technology | The Academy of Aerospace Liquid Propulsion Technology or AALPT (in Chinese: 航天推进技术研究院; 航天六院) is a conglomerate of Chinese state-owned enterprises that develops liquid-propellant rocket engines and guidance systems for China's space launchers. It employs about 10,000 people in about ten entities located in the Shaanxi region. AALPT is a subsidiary of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC).
Activity
AALPT's main activity is the development of liquid-propellant rocket engines for Chinese space launchers. The YF-77 and YF-100 engines, which will power the Long March 5 family of launchers, are produced in AALPT's facilities. The conglomerate brings together five research centers and four factories.
History
AALPT was created around 1970 under the base name 067 at Mount Quinling in Shaanxi as part of the industrialization of what was called the Third Front, that is, the inland regions of southwestern China. Later, the company concentrated on the regional capital, Xi'an.
See also
Long March 5
Chinese space program
China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC)
Academy of Aerospace Solid Propulsion Technology (AASPT)
References
External links
Official website
Aerospace companies
Research institutes in China
Space program of the People's Republic of China
China, PR | Academy of Aerospace Liquid Propulsion Technology | [
"Astronomy",
"Engineering"
] | 281 | [
"Space programs",
"Outer space",
"Astronomy stubs",
"Space programs by country",
"Outer space stubs"
] |
77,401,547 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C27H24F3NO | {{DISPLAYTITLE:C27H24F3NO}}
The molecular formula C27H24F3NO (molar mass: 435.49 g/mol) may refer to:
JWH-363
JWH-372
JWH-348 | C27H24F3NO | [
"Chemistry"
] | 62 | [
"Isomerism",
"Set index articles on molecular formulas"
] |
77,402,288 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross%2019 | Ross 19 is a red dwarf of spectral type M3.5. In 2021 it was discovered that Ross 19 has a companion, which is a cold brown dwarf. Ross 19B is likely the coldest brown dwarf found around a main-sequence star, as of July 2024.
Ross 19A
Ross 19A was discovered in 1925 by Frank E. Ross as a proper-motion star with the help of the Yerkes Observatory and archived plates by E. E. Barnard. In 1985 the first spectral information was published by W. P. Bidelman, based on observations by G. P. Kuiper, which reported the star to have a V magnitude of 12.70 and a spectral type of M3.5. In 2020 the star was observed at the Lick Observatory and with IRTF. Ross 19A has a mass of about 0.36 and has an age between 3.6 and 11 billion years. It has a sub-solar metallicity and has a temperature of about 3500 Kelvin. In TESS and ZTF light curves it does not show any variability and does not show any flares.
Ross 19B
Ross 19B (also called CWISE J021948.68+351845.3) was initially found in the Backyard Worlds project by the citizen scientists Samuel Goodman, Léopold Gramaize, Austin Rothermich, and Hunter Brooks. It was then observed by the professional astronomers of the paper led by Adam C. Schneider with the Keck Observatory in 2020, measuring a J-band magnitude of 21.14 ± 0.02. The researchers calculated that Ross 19B has a 100% probability to be bound to Ross 19A. Ross 19B has a very low temperature of about , making it either a late T-dwarf or a Y-dwarf. It has a mass between 15 and 40 , making it a brown dwarf. Its wide separation results in an extremely low gravitational binding energy. It is suggested that Ross 19B has a sub-solar metallicity similar to the red dwarf. Later observation with Gemini North showed a Y-band magnitude of 21.86 ± 0.06. This showed that the spectral type is likely between T9 and Y0. A JWST program is dedicated to observe Ross 19B in Cycle 3.
See also
List of Y-dwarfs
Wolf 1130C – another cold metal-poor companion
WD 0806-661B – a Y-dwarf companion to a white dwarf
References
Brown dwarfs
M-type main-sequence stars
Triangulum | Ross 19 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 513 | [
"Triangulum",
"Constellations"
] |
77,402,300 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Per%20Helander | Per Helander (born 1967) is a Swedish theoretical plasma physicist and a leading scientist in the world in stellarator physics. He is the head of Stellarator Theory Division at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics.
Education and career
Helander was born in Umeå, his grandfather is Dick Helander, the former bishop of Strängnäs. Helander studied physics at Chalmers University of Technology, where he received a Master's degree in plasma physics in 1991. Subsequently, he earned a PhD degree at the same institution in theoretical physics in 1994 with a thesis titled Dynamics of Fast Ions in Tokamaks. His doctoral advisors were Mietek Lisak and Dan Anderson. Afterwards, Helander was a postdoctoral fellow at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the group of Dieter Sigmar. He then joined the theory department at Culham Science Centre (now Culham Centre for Fusion Energy) in Abingdon of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority in 1996. He was an adjunct professor at Chalmers University of Technology from 2002 till 2005. In 2006, Helander was appointed Scientific Fellow at the Greifswald Branch of the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics. He was appointed to a chair for theoretical plasma physics at the University of Greifswald.
Honours and awards
In 2023, Helander was named a Fellow of the American Physical Society. In 2024, Helander was awarded the Hannes Alfvén Prize along with Tünde Fülöp for outstanding contributions to theoretical plasma physics, yielding groundbreaking results that significantly impact the understanding and optimization of magnetically confined fusion plasmas.
References
1967 births
Living people
21st-century physicists
Plasma physicists
Chalmers University of Technology alumni
Max Planck Institute directors
Swedish physicists
People from Umeå
Academic staff of the University of Greifswald
Fellows of the American Physical Society
Max Planck Institutes researchers
Computational physicists
Theoretical physicists
Academic staff of the Chalmers University of Technology | Per Helander | [
"Physics"
] | 379 | [
"Computational physicists",
"Plasma physics",
"Theoretical physics",
"Computational physics",
"Plasma physicists",
"Theoretical physicists"
] |
77,402,391 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geometric%20discrepancy | Geometric discrepancy theory is a sub-field of discrepancy theory, that deals with balancing geometric sets, such as intervals or rectangles. The general research question in this field is: given a set of points in a geometric space, and a set of objects in the same space, can we color each point in one of two different colors (e.g. black and white), such that each object contains roughly the same number of points of each color?
Formally, the discrepancy of an object is defined as the difference between the number of white points and the number of black points in that object; the objective is to color the points such that the maximum discrepancy of an object is as small as possible.
Intervals
In the simplest geometric discrepancy setting, the set of objects is the set of all sub-intervals of the real interval [0,1]. In this setting, it is possible to attain discrepancy 1: simply color the points alternately black - white - black - white - etc. Then, the discrepancy of every interval is either 0 or 1.
The problem becomes more challenging when the points are not available in advance, but arrive one by one, and each point should be colored immediately when it arrives. This setting is called the "Online Interval Discrepancy". Jiang, Kulkarni and Singla prove that:
No online algorithm can guarantee a constant discrepancy.
Randomly coloring each point when it arrives gives expected discrepancy.
If the point arrival is adversarial, the discrepancy of any online algorithm is .
If the point arrival is stochastic, there is an efficient algorithm that guarantees discrepancy, for some universal constant c, with high probability (i.e. with probability 1-1/poly(n), where the exponent of the polynomial depends on c).
Their proof uses a reduction to the problem of Online Tree Balancing, which is a problem of discrepancy in which the set of objects is the set of sub-trees of a complete m-ary tree with height h. For this problem, they prove that, if for a sufficiently large constant C, and m ≥ 100, then there is an online algorithm that attains discrepancy .
Rectangles and boxes
Tusnady asked what is the discrepancy when the set of objects is the set of axes-parallel rectangles contained in the unit square.
Beck proved that the discrepancy is at least Ω(log n) and at most O(log4n).
Nikolov proved that the discrepancy is at most O(log1.5 n).
When the set of objects is the set of all rectangles (possibly rotated), then:
Beck proved that the discrepancy is at least Ω(n1/4-ε) and at most O(n1/2+ε) for any ε>0.
Matousek studied the d-dimensional extension of Tusnady's problem. Improving previous results by Roth, Schmidt, Beck, Bohus, and Srinivasan, he proved an upper bound of with a simple proof.
Stripes
When the set of objects is the set of stripes—rectangles of the form [a,b]x[0,1] and [0,1]x[a,b], the setting is equivalent to the problem of "two permutations": given two permutations on a set of n elements, we should color each element either black or white, such that the discrepancy in each interval of each permutation is minimized (the two permutations are the order of the x coordinates and the order of the y coordinates of the points).
Spencer proved that it is possible to attain a discrepancy of at most 2.
Jiang, Kulkarni and Singla study the online setting with stochastic point arrival, and prove that:
A random coloring yields an expected discrepancy of .
There is an efficient algorithm that guarantees discrepancy, for some universal constant c, with high probability. They show an application of this result to online fair division.
Convex polytopes
Matousek and Nikolov studied a more general setting, where the set of objects is induced by dilations and translations of a fixed convex polytope. He proved upper and lower bounds on the discrepancy. The results are analogous to the results for rectangles and boxes.
Half-spaces
When the set of objects is the set of half-spaces in the Euclidean d-dimensional space:
Alexander proved a lower bound of for any dense point set, that is, the ratio of maximum and minimum interior distances is in O(n1/d).
Matousek proved an upper bound of . In fact, this upper bound holds not only for half-spaces but also for any set system for which the primal shatter function is in O(md).
References
Discrepancy theory | Geometric discrepancy | [
"Mathematics"
] | 1,047 | [
"Discrepancy theory",
"Combinatorics"
] |
77,402,447 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermo-acoustic%20instability | Thermo-acoustic instability refers to an instabiltiy arising due to acoustics field and unsteady heat release process. This instability is very relevant in combustion instabilities in systems such as rocket engines, etc.
Rayleigh criterion
A very simple mechanism of acoustic amplification was first identified by Lord Rayleigh in 1878. In simple terms, Rayleigh criterion states that amplification results if, on the average, heat addition occurs in phase with the pressure increases during the oscillation.. That is, if is the pressure perturbation (with respect to its mean value ) and is the rate of heat release per unit volume (with respect to its mean value ), then the Rayleigh criterion says that acoustic amplification occurs if
Rayleigh criterion is used to many explain phenomena such as singing flames in tubes, sound amplification in Rijke tube and others. In complex systems, Rayleigh criterion, may not ne strictly valid, as there exists many damping factors such as viscous/wall/nozzle/relaxation/homogeneous/particle damping, mean-flow effects, et, that are not accounted in Rayleigh's analysis.
See also
Darrieus–Landau instability
Diffusive–thermal instability
Rijke tube
References
Fluid dynamics
Combustion
Fluid dynamic instabilities | Thermo-acoustic instability | [
"Chemistry",
"Engineering"
] | 269 | [
"Fluid dynamic instabilities",
"Chemical engineering",
"Combustion",
"Piping",
"Fluid dynamics"
] |
77,402,513 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%20553 | NGC 553 is a lenticular galaxy recorded in the New General Catalogue. It is located 219 million light-years towards the direction of the constellation Pisces on the sky. It is an S0 type galaxy. It was discovered by British astronomer William Herschel in 1784 using a 47.5 cm (18.7 in) reflector.
See also
List of NGC objects (1–1000)
References
External links
Interacting galaxies
Lenticular galaxies
Pisces (constellation)
0553
05450
Markarian galaxies
Astronomical objects discovered in 1786
Discoveries by William Herschel | NGC 553 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 115 | [
"Pisces (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
77,402,679 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK%20Crop%20Microbiome%20Cryobank | The UK Crop Microbiome Cryobank is an exploitable resource that aims to improve soil and crop health by focusing on plant microbiomes. The cryobank provides a bank of cultures, resources, and information to facilitate research into optimizing plant yields using a sustainable agricultural approach.
The UK Crop Microbiome Cryobank targets six of the UK’s key crops and supports the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) strategic priorities in agriculture and food security. It also aligns with three of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The cryobank, completed in October 2023, uses cryo-research techniques to preserve the crop microbiome samples.
References
External links
Official site
Cryopreservation | UK Crop Microbiome Cryobank | [
"Chemistry"
] | 156 | [
"Cryopreservation",
"Cryobiology"
] |
77,402,909 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matalon%E2%80%93Matkowsky%E2%80%93Clavin%E2%80%93Joulin%20theory | The Matalon–Matkowsky–Clavin–Joulin theory refers to a theoretical hydrodynamic model of a premixed flame with a large-amplitude flame wrinkling, developed independently by Moshe Matalon & Bernard J. Matkowsky and Paul Clavin & Guy Joulin, following the pioneering study by Paul Clavin and Forman A. Williams and by Pierre Pelcé and Paul Clavin. The theory, for the first time, calculated the burning rate of the curved flame that differs from the burning rate of the planar flame due to flame stretch, associated with the flame curvature and the strain imposed on the flame by the flow field.
Burning rate formula
According to Matalon–Matkowsky–Clavin–Joulin theory, if and are the laminar burning speed and thickness of a planar flame (and be the corresponding flame residence time with being the thermal diffusivity in the unburnt gas), then the burning speed for the curved flame with respect to the unburnt gas is given by
where is the unit normal to the flame surface (pointing towards the burnt gas side), is the flow velocity field evalauted at the flame surface and and are the two Markstein numbers, associated with the curvature term and the term corresponding to flow strain imposed on the flame.
See also
G equation
Markstein number
References
Fluid dynamics
Combustion | Matalon–Matkowsky–Clavin–Joulin theory | [
"Chemistry",
"Engineering"
] | 286 | [
"Piping",
"Chemical engineering",
"Combustion",
"Fluid dynamics"
] |
77,405,256 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fradkin%20tensor | The Fradkin tensor, or Jauch-Hill-Fradkin tensor, named after Josef-Maria Jauch and Edward Lee Hill and David M. Fradkin, is a conservation law used in the treatment of the isotropic multidimensional harmonic oscillator in classical mechanics. For the treatment of the quantum harmonic oscillator in quantum mechanics, it is replaced by the tensor-valued Fradkin operator.
The Fradkin tensor provides enough conserved quantities to make the oscillator's equations of motion maximally superintegrable. This implies that to determine the trajectory of the system, no differential equations need to be solved, only algebraic ones.
Similarly to the Laplace–Runge–Lenz vector in the Kepler problem, the Fradkin tensor arises from a hidden symmetry of the harmonic oscillator.
Definition
Suppose the Hamiltonian of a harmonic oscillator is given by
with
momentum ,
mass ,
angular frequency , and
displacement ,
then the Fradkin tensor (up to an arbitrary normalisation) is defined as
In particular, is given by the trace: . The Fradkin Tensor is a thus a symmetric matrix, and for an -dimensional harmonic oscillator has independent entries, for example 5 in 3 dimensions.
Properties
The Fradkin tensor is orthogonal to the angular momentum :
contracting the Fradkin tensor with the displacement vector gives the relationship
.
The 5 independent components of the Fradkin tensor and the 3 components of angular momentum give the 8 generators of , the three-dimensional special unitary group in 3 dimensions, with the relationships
where is the Poisson bracket, is the Kronecker delta, and is the Levi-Civita symbol.
Proof of conservation
In Hamiltonian mechanics, the time evolution of any function defined on phase space is given by
,
so for the Fradkin tensor of the harmonic oscillator,
.
The Fradkin tensor is the conserved quantity associated to the transformation
by Noether's theorem.
Quantum mechanics
In quantum mechanics, position and momentum are replaced by the position- and momentum operators and the Poisson brackets by the commutator. As such the Hamiltonian becomes the Hamiltonian operator, angular momentum the angular momentum operator, and the Fradkin tensor the Fradkin operator. All of the above properties continue to hold after making these replacements.
References
Quantum mechanics
Classical mechanics | Fradkin tensor | [
"Physics"
] | 487 | [
"Quantum mechanics",
"Theoretical physics",
"Mechanics",
"Classical mechanics"
] |
77,405,387 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%203936 | NGC 3936 is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation of Hydra. Its velocity with respect to the cosmic microwave background is 2,357 ± 24km/s, which corresponds to a Hubble distance of 34.76 ± 2.46Mpc (∼113million light-years). It was discovered by British astronomer John Herschel on 24 March 1835.
As of July 2024, 26 non-redshift measurements give a distance of 20.912 ± 2.969Mpc (∼68.2million light-years), which is well outside the Hubble distance values. But, since this galaxy is relatively close to the Local Group, it is very likely that this value is closer to the true distance to NGC3936.
NGC 3936 Group
NGC 3936 is the largest of a small group of four galaxies named after it. The other three galaxies in the NGC 3936 group (also known as LGG 253) are NGC 3885, ESO 440-4, and ESO 440-11.
Supernova
One supernova has been observed in NGC3936: SN2024phv (typeII, mag.17.3523) was discovered by the Distance Less Than 40 Mpc Survey (DLT40) on 10 July 2024.
See also
List of NGC objects (3001–4000)
References
External links
3936
037178
11497-2637
Hydra_(constellation)
18350324
Discoveries by John Herschel
-04-28-004
Barred spiral galaxies | NGC 3936 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 313 | [
"Hydra (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
77,405,495 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokratis%20Famellos | Sokratis Famellos (; born 27 March 1966) is a Greek politician and former chemical engineer who has been the president of Syriza since November 2024. He previously served as de jure Leader of the Official Opposition in the Hellenic Parliament from 2023 to 2024.
Early life, education and career
Sokratis Famellos was born on 27 March 1966 in Athens, but was raised in Thessaloniki. He earned a diploma from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and a Master of Science in Environmental Planning and Management from the Hellenic Open University; later working as a chemical engineer.
Political career
Famellos was elected to the Hellenic Parliament representing for Thessaloniki B in 2015. He was reelected for the constituency in 2019 and served as the Alternative Minister for the Environment and Energy from November 2016 to July 2019.
Following the defeat of Syriza in the June 2023 Greek legislative election and the resignation of Alexis Tsipras as party chairman, on 3 July 2023 Famellos was elected as chairman of the Syriza parliamentary group.
Prior to the 2023 Syriza leadership election, there was speculation that Famellos would be a candidate, which he denied. Under the new leader, Stefanos Kasselakis, Famellos retained his position as leader of the parliamentary group. He became the Leader of the Opposition in the Hellenic Parliament, as Kasselakis was not an MP. On 27 August 2024, Famellos was dismissed from the position after refusing to resign.
Famellos stood in the 2024 Syriza leadership election and was elected president on 24 November after leading the first round with 49.41% of the votes. He was congratulated by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on his election as president.
Personal life
Famellos was married to Popi Karagiannidou until her death in 2018. They had one son together.
References
1966 births
People from Athens
Living people
Politicians from Athens
Syriza politicians
Leaders of the Opposition
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki alumni
Chemical engineers
Greek MPs 2019–2023
Greek MPs 2023– | Sokratis Famellos | [
"Chemistry",
"Engineering"
] | 421 | [
"Chemical engineering",
"Chemical engineers"
] |
77,405,726 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MDMB-BINACA | MDMB-BINACA (MDMB-BUTINACA) is an indazole-3-carboxamide based synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonist that has been sold as a designer drug, first identified in Sweden in May 2023. It has a similar chemical structure to potent cannabinoid agonists previously reported such as ADB-BUTINACA and MDMB-5'Br-BUTINACA, and is believed to have similar effects.
See also
4F-MDMB-BINACA
ADB-5'F-BUTINACA
ADB-5'Br-BUTINACA
JWH-073
References
Cannabinoids
Designer drugs
Amides
Tert-butyl compounds
Indazolecarboxamides
Methyl esters | MDMB-BINACA | [
"Chemistry"
] | 160 | [
"Amides",
"Functional groups"
] |
77,405,784 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADMB-3TMS-PRINACA | ADMB-3TMS-PRINACA (ADB-3TMS-PRINACA) is an indazole-3-carboxamide based synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonist that has been sold as a designer drug, first identified in Germany in March 2023. It is the first designer drug ever reported that contains a silicon atom.
Legality
ADMB-3TMS-PRINACA is illegal in Germany and Italy.
See also
ADB-PINACA
ADB-FUBINACA
CUMYL-3TMS-PRINACA
1S-LSD
Silandrone
References
Cannabinoids
Designer drugs
Amides
Tert-butyl compounds
Indazolecarboxamides
Methyl esters
Trimethylsilyl compounds | ADMB-3TMS-PRINACA | [
"Chemistry"
] | 158 | [
"Amides",
"Functional groups",
"Trimethylsilyl compounds"
] |
77,405,829 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CUMYL-3TMS-PRINACA | CUMYL-3TMS-PRINACA is an indazole-3-carboxamide based synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonist that has been sold as a designer drug, first identified in Sweden in May 2023. Along with the related compound ADMB-3TMS-PRINACA that was reported several months earlier, CUMYL-3TMS-PRINACA is one of the only psychoactive drugs ever reported that contains a silicon atom. Another example of a silicon-containing drug is sila-haloperidol.
Legality
CUMYL-3TMS-PRINACA is illegal in Germany and Italy and has been recommended for control in Sweden.
See also
CUMYL-CBMINACA
CUMYL-FUBINACA
CUMYL-NBMINACA
CUMYL-PINACA
CUMYL-THPINACA
1S-LSD
Silandrone
References
Cannabinoids
Designer drugs
Amides
Indazolecarboxamides
Trimethylsilyl compounds | CUMYL-3TMS-PRINACA | [
"Chemistry"
] | 205 | [
"Amides",
"Functional groups",
"Trimethylsilyl compounds"
] |
77,406,642 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%203177 | NGC 3177 is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Leo. Its speed relative to the cosmic microwave background is 1,627 ± 22 km/s, which corresponds to a Hubble distance of 24.0 ± 1.7 Mpc (∼78.3 million ly). NGC 3177 was discovered by the German-British astronomer William Herschel in 1784.
The luminosity class of NGC 3177 is II and it has a broad HI line. It also contains regions of ionized hydrogen. According to the SIMBAD database, NGC 3177 has an active galactic nucleus.
To date, nine non-redshift measurements yield a distance of 27.722 ± 4.581 Mpc (∼90.4 million ly), which is within the distance values of Hubble.
Supernovae
The supernova SN 1947A was discovered in NGC 3177 on March 5, 1947, by Edwin Hubble. The type of this supernova has not been determined.
NGC 3227 group
NGC 3177 is part of the NGC 3227 group. In addition to NGC 3177 and NGC 3227, this group includes at least 16 other galaxies including NGC 3162, NGC 3185, NGC 3187, NGC 3190, NGC 3193, NGC 3213, NGC 3226, NGC 3227, NGC 3287 and NGC 3301.
See also
List of spiral galaxies
External links
NGC 3177 at NASA/IPAC
NGC 3177 at SIMBAD
NGC 3177 at LEDA
NGC 3177 (DSS2) at WikiSky
NGC 3177 (SDSS) at WikiSky
NGC 3177 (GALEX) at WikiSky
References
Unbarred spiral galaxies
Leo (constellation)
Discoveries by William Herschel
3177
05544
Markarian galaxies
30010 | NGC 3177 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 366 | [
"Leo (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
77,406,715 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HE0435-1223 | HE0435-1223 is a quadruple-lensed quasar and rare Einstein Cross located in the constellation Eridanus at a distance of approximately 2.33 billion light years away from Earth. HE 0435-1223 was discovered in October 2008 by astronomer Patrick Foley during a study and search for gravitational quadruple lenses in deep sky objects.
Physical properties
The main physical characteristic of HE0435-1223 is the fact that it is divided into four frames by the galaxy WSB2002 0435-1223 G. All images are spaced a maximum of 2.6 arcsecs apart, the brightest image named "A" has an apparent magnitude of 19 while the other three images ("B","C" and "D") have an apparent magnitude of 19.6. The quasar itself is estimated to have an apparent magnitude of 17.71. All these images are pale blue in color. According to measurements in the I band, the galaxy producing the lens would be a giant elliptical galaxy with a diameter of 12 kpc.
In 2006, a research team studied HE0435-1223 with the Hubble Space Telescope, they observed that the brightness of the four images varies in a particular way, if image A varies, image B will vary with a delay compared to image A.
According to scientists, the object producing the lensing may not be a galaxy but a possible unorganized galactic structure which would produce several gravitational lenses that distort HE0435-1223, and this would explain the delay between the magnitudes of each image.
Supermassive black hole
In 2017, scientists studied the emission lines as well as the inert zone of the quasar using the MMT Observatory. By recombining the emissions from the different images, the team of scientists were able to carry out fairly precise measurements. By studying the microwaves emitted by HE0435-1223, they were able to estimate the speed and temperature of the black hole's accretion disk.
With this data, they were able to estimate the mass of the black hole which sits at the center of the quasar; for this process, they used the relationship between the measurements as well as the mass of the central black hole. Data from the variation of emission fluxes indicate that the central black hole of HE0435-1223 would have a mass of approximately ~10 billion solar masses.
See also
Gravitational lens
List of quasars
External links
HE 0435-1223 at SIMBAD
References
Quasars
Eridanus (constellation) | HE0435-1223 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 534 | [
"Eridanus (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
77,406,748 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luigi%20Sacconi | Luigi Sacconi was an Italian inorganic chemist who gained renown for contributions to coordination chemistry. He was born on February 28, 1911 in S. Croce sull'Arno. He died September 1, 1992. He received a Doctor of Pharmacy at the University of Florence. He was on the faculties at the University of Parma, Turin, and then Florence. He was mentor of future influential inorganic chemists including Ivano Bertini, Claudio Bianchini, Fausto Calderazzo, Carlo Floriani, Dante Gatteschi, Carlo Mealli, and Maurizio Peruzzini. Among his many contributions, Sacconi popularized tripodal ligands, which often stabilize pentacoordinate complexes with unusual electronic or chemical properties.
The Sacconi Medal was instituted to recognize Sacconi's contributions. He was awarded the Premio Presidente della Repubblica (prize) in 1977.
References
1911 births
1992 deaths
Inorganic chemists
Italian chemists | Luigi Sacconi | [
"Chemistry"
] | 201 | [
"Inorganic chemists"
] |
77,406,958 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SBS%201415%2B437 | SBS 1415+437 is a blue compact dwarf galaxy and Wolf-Rayet galaxy located in the constellation Boötes. It is approximately 45.3 million light-years away from the Milky Way, and was discovered in 1995 by a team of astronomers from the University of Virginia coordinated by Trinh Thuan.
It was initially thought that the galaxy hosted only very young stars, but the stars were later found to be up to 1.3 billion years old.
SBS 1415+437 is also a starburst galaxy of the rare Wolf-Rayet type, as it contains an unusually large number of Wolf-Rayet stars. These are massive stars (at least 20 solar masses), short-lived, with surface temperatures of over 25,000 kelvin which, due to very strong stellar winds (over 2,000 km/s), lose large quantities of their mass (in about 100,000 years a Wolf-Rayet star can lose the equivalent of the mass of the Sun). It is said the galaxy hosted a number of Red-giant branch stars apart from Wolf-Rayets as well.
In 2019, astronomers found there are traces of ionized gas inside the star-forming regions of SBS 1415+437, hinting the presence of elemental abundances of chemical elements such as nitrogen, argon and sulfur.
See also
List of galaxies
Kiso 5639, a similar dwarf galaxy
References
Dwarf galaxies
Boötes | SBS 1415+437 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 293 | [
"Boötes",
"Constellations"
] |
77,408,222 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discrepancy%20of%20permutations | Discrepancy of permutations is a sub-field of discrepancy theory, that deals with balancing intervals induced by permutations of elements. There is a set of n elements, and there are m different permutations on this set. The general research question is: can we color each element in one of two different colors (e.g. black and white), such that in each permutation, every interval contains roughly the same number of elements of each color?
Formally, the discrepancy of an interval is defined as the difference between the number of white elements and the number of black elements in that interval; the objective is to color the elements such that the maximum discrepancy of an interval in each of the permutations is as small as possible.
Definitions
Let p1, ...,pm be permutations of [n]. The interval set of a permutation is the set of all subsets of [n], that are adjacent to each other in the permutation. For example, if n=4 and one of the permutations is (1,2,3,4), then its interval set of contains e.g. the edges (1,2), (1,2,3), (2,3), (2,3,4), etc.
The discrepancy of the permutations p1, ...,pm is the minimum, over all black-white colorings of the integers in [n], of the maximum over all intervals, of the difference between the number of white and black integers in the interval.
Offline colorings
When there is only one permutation, a discrepancy of 1 is possible, by simply coloring the integers alternately white - black - white - black - etc.
When there are two permutations, a discrepancy of 2 is possible; this was proved by Spencer in 1987.
For any m permutations, the discrepancy is at most , and such a coloring can be computed efficiently.
For any three permutations, Beck conjectured that the discrepancy is constant. However, this conjecture was refuted: for any n which is a power of 3, there exist 3 permutations whose discrepancy is . More precisely, for any {1,-1} coloring, if the sum of all colors is d, then there exists some integer q such that, in all three permutations, the sum of the first q colors is at most . This has implications for the bin packing problem.
Jiang, Kulkarni and Singla study the online setting with stochastic point arrival, and prove that:
A random coloring yields an expected discrepancy of .
There is an efficient algorithm that guarantees discrepancy, for some universal constant c, with high probability. They show an application of this result to online fair division.
Online colorings
Sometimes the elements are not available in advance, but arrive one by one, and each elements should be colored immediately when it arrives. This online setting is challenging even for a single permutation. Jiang, Kulkarni and Singla call the setting with one permutation Online Interval Discrepancy. They prove that:
No online algorithm can guarantee a constant discrepancy.
Random coloring gives expected discrepancy.
If the arrival is adversarial, the discrepancy of any online algorithm is .
If the arrival is stochastic, there is an efficient algorithm that guarantees discrepancy, for some universal constant c, with high probability (i.e. with probability 1-1/poly(n), where the exponent of the polynomial depends on c).
The proof extends for the case of two permutations, which they call Online Stripe Discrepancy.
Applications
Results in discrepancy of permutations have been used in the computation of Agreeable subsets, as well as in Online fair division.
References
Discrepancy theory
Permutations | Discrepancy of permutations | [
"Mathematics"
] | 840 | [
"Functions and mappings",
"Permutations",
"Mathematical objects",
"Combinatorics",
"Discrepancy theory",
"Mathematical relations"
] |
77,409,352 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far-UVC | Far-UVC is a type of ultraviolet germicidal irradiation being studied and commercially developed for its combination of pathogen inactivation properties and reduced negative effects on human health when used within exposure guidelines.
Far-UVC (200-235 nm), while part of the broader UV-C spectrum (100-280 nm), is distinguished by its unique biophysical effects on living tissues. Unlike conventional UV-C lamps (which typically have peak emissions at 254 nm), far-UVC demonstrates significantly reduced penetration into biological tissue. This limited penetration depth is primarily due to strong absorption by proteins at wavelengths below 240 nm. Consequently, far-UVC photons are mostly absorbed in the outer protective layers of skin and eyes before reaching sensitive cells, resulting in minimal health effects. However, far-UVC can still lead to negative health effects through reactive byproducts like ozone.
While the technology has been studied since the early 2010s, heightened demand for disinfectant tools during the COVID-19 pandemic played a significant role in spurring both academic and commercial interest into far-UVC. Unlike conventional germicidal UV-C lamps, which are limited to upper-room (above people's heads) pathogen inactivation or use in unoccupied spaces due to their negative effects on human skin and eyes, far-UVC is considered promising for whole-room pathogen inactivation due to its enhanced safety. This allows for the installation of far-UVC lights on ceilings, potentially enabling direct disinfection of the breathing zone while people are present. Wearable garments incorporating far-UVC light sources to disinfect on programmable demand the vicinity around the user have also been proposed.
Although far-UVC shows potential for implementation in a wide variety of use cases, its wider adoption as a pandemic prevention strategy requires further research around its safety and efficacy.
Historical Development
Far-UVC's development was primarily led by the research of Dr. David J. Brenner and his colleagues (including David Welch and Manuela Buonanno) at Columbia University's Center for Radiological Research. In the early 2010s, Brenner initially studied far-UVC for its potential as a surgical site disinfectant. Over the next decade, his lab began to study the technology for its ability to prevent the airborne transmission of pathogens, as well as its health effects on mammalian skin. In 2018, a seminal paper published by Brenner's lab announced the technology as an inexpensive and safe technology to reduce the spread of airborne microbial diseases like tuberculosis and influenza.
During the COVID-19 pandemic far-UVC research and commercialization efforts increased. The technology is currently being further studied for its safety and efficacy, particularly regarding its effect on ozone creation and interactions with indoor air chemistry and the built environment. Latest studies uphold initial evidence towards the technology's germicidal efficacy in realistic room-like environments. These finding pave the way for future wearable garments which can disinfect a programmable area in the vicinity of the user on demand.
Safety and Efficacy
Research from the Brenner lab and other scientists has demonstrated the improved safety and efficacy profile of far-UVC compared to other ultraviolet wavelengths. When evaluating ultraviolet germicidal lights, eye and skin health are primary concerns. UV-B, predominantly responsible for the harmful effects of sunlight, poses the highest risk for erythema, photokeratitis, sunburn and skin cancer. While longer UV-C wavelengths and UV-A can also cause damage, their effects are less severe than UV-B.
In contrast, far-UVC has shown remarkably different results. Studies on both lab mice and humans have found no significant impact on skin health, even at doses far exceeding current guidelines. This enhanced safety is attributed to far-UVC's difficulty in penetrating the outermost layer of the epidermis called the stratum corneum. The stratum corneum is effective at blocking far-UVC as it's composed primarily of dead cells filled with keratin protein, which absorb far-UVC light.
Regarding ocular safety, while comprehensive human studies are still pending, limited research has been conducted on human eye exposure to overhead far-UVC lamps. These studies have found no evidence of damage or increased discomfort. Additionally, research on rats has revealed significantly reduced penetration and damage from far-UVC compared to other UV wavelengths. These findings suggest a promising safety profile for far-UVC, though further research, particularly on human eyes, is needed to fully establish its long-term effects.
When far-UVC interacts with airborne oxygen it produces ozone and other byproducts, an effect that has been demonstrated in laboratory and real world environments. While the extent to which this produced ozone leads to negative health effects is the subject of active research, the mechanism for ozone causing cardiovascular disease and premature mortality is established in outdoor settings.
A key concern for far-UVC implementations is balancing radiation dosage and microbial inactivation rates. Although far-UVC has been shown to be effective at inactivating a wide array at viruses at doses that fall beneath exposure limits, the optimal dosage for achieving sufficient deactivation and indoor air quality standards requires further study.
Positive skin and eye safety attributes can be forgone if a given far-UVC lamp produces unwanted emissions at wavelengths other than the a device's stated specifications. For this reason, optical filters have been suggested as a mitigation device. Mitigation techniques also have been studied for ozone production.
Far-UVC Devices and Commercialization
The most common device used to generate far-UVC radiation is a Krypton Chloride (KrCl) excimer lamp, which emits light at the 222 nm wavelength. Following the sudden increase in demand for disinfectant tools brought upon by the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of companies began to market and sell consumer far-UVC devices. These devices come in many different configurations and commercial form factors. There are no public estimates available for the size of the far-UVC device industry.
Regulation
Considering the technology's evolving nature, regulatory bodies around the world have not yet created binding standards as to what is considered a safe and effective dosage for far-UVC implementations, nor have they created certifications or passed regulations for the safety of commercial far-UVC devices. Legislation has been proposed for governing the production of ozone from germicidal UV light in California. In lieu of formal regulations or standards, guidelines for exposure limits and indoor air quality are put in place by professional associations. Some have suggested that these exposure limits are too conservative and need to be revised for shorter wavelength UV-C.
References
Sterilization (microbiology)
Ultraviolet radiation
Waste treatment technology
Radiobiology | Far-UVC | [
"Physics",
"Chemistry",
"Engineering",
"Biology"
] | 1,409 | [
"Spectrum (physical sciences)",
"Water treatment",
"Radiobiology",
"Electromagnetic spectrum",
"Ultraviolet radiation",
"Microbiology techniques",
"Sterilization (microbiology)",
"Environmental engineering",
"Waste treatment technology",
"Radioactivity"
] |
77,409,484 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%201701 | NGC 1701, also known as the Trekkie Galaxy, is a large unbarred spiral galaxy located in the constellation Caelum. Its speed relative to the cosmic microwave background is 5,836 ± 24 km/s, which corresponds to a Hubble distance of 86.1 ± 6.0 Mpc (∼281 million ly). It was discovered by the British astronomer John Herschel in 1834.
The luminosity class of NGC 1701 is II and it has a broad HI line.
The galaxy got its nickname due to its technical name (NGC 1701) being very similar to the designation of Star Trek's Starship Enterprise (NCC-1701).
See also
List of NGC objects (1001–2000)
List of spiral galaxies
External links
NGC 1701 at NASA/IPAC
NGC 1701 at SIMBAD
NGC 1701 at SEDS
NGC 1701 at LEDA
NGC 1701 at WikiSky
NGC 1701 at Seigman
References
Unbarred spiral galaxies
Caelum
Discoveries by John Herschel
1701
016352
IRAS catalogue objects
422-011
-05-12-010
Astronomical objects discovered in 1834
016352 | NGC 1701 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 233 | [
"Caelum",
"Constellations"
] |
77,410,775 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palustric%20acid | Palustric acid is an organic compound with the formula . It is classified as a diterpenoid (a C20 hydrocarbon with oxygenated groups) and a resin acid. Palustric acid is an isomer of abietic acid: the location of the two C=C bonds differ in these two compounds. It is a colorless solid that is soluble in polar organic solvents. In terms of biological function palustric acid protects its host trees, especially conifers, against insects, an example of plant defense against herbivory. It is biosynthesized from the C20 precursor geranylgeranyl diphosphate.
Safety
Palustric acid is very poorly soluble in water and has low acute toxicity.
References
Carboxylic acids
Diterpenes
Phenanthrenes
Wood extracts
Cyclohexadienes
Conjugated dienes | Palustric acid | [
"Chemistry"
] | 182 | [
"Carboxylic acids",
"Functional groups"
] |
77,411,704 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generalized%20metric%20space | In mathematics, specifically in category theory, a generalized metric space is a metric space but without the symmetry property and some other properties. Precisely, it is a category enriched over , the one-point compactification of . The notion was introduced in 1973 by Lawvere who noticed that a metric space can be viewed as a particular kind of a category.
The categorical point of view is useful since by Yoneda's lemma, a generalized metric space can be embedded into a much larger category in which, for instance, one can construct the Cauchy completion of the space.
Notes
References
Further reading
https://golem.ph.utexas.edu/category/2023/05/metric_spaces_as_enriched_categories_ii.html#more
https://golem.ph.utexas.edu/category/2022/01/optimal_transport_and_enriched_2.html#more
https://ncatlab.org/nlab/show/metric+space#LawvereMetricSpace
https://golem.ph.utexas.edu/category/2014/02/metric_spaces_generalized_logi.html#more
Category theory | Generalized metric space | [
"Mathematics"
] | 256 | [
"Functions and mappings",
"Mathematical structures",
"Category theory stubs",
"Mathematical objects",
"Space (mathematics)",
"Metric spaces",
"Fields of abstract algebra",
"Category theory",
"Mathematical relations"
] |
77,411,929 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry%20of%20Climate%20Policy%20and%20Green%20Growth | The Ministry of Climate Policy and Green Growth (; KGG) is the Dutch ministry responsible for climate policy.
The ministry was spun off from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy on 2 July 2024, when the right-wing Schoof cabinet was installed. "Economic Affairs" was simultaneously dropped from that ministry's name. The coalition agreement included budget cuts to the civil service, and it was decided that the new ministry would remain located in an office building shared with the Ministry of Economic Affairs. The ministry's responsibilities mostly coincide with those previously overseen by the Minister for Climate and Energy Policy, a minister without portfolio.
Sophie Hermans of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) has served as Minister of Climate Policy and Green Growth since its establishment.
See also
List of ministers of climate policy of the Netherlands
References
External links
Climate Policy and Green Growth
Netherlands
Netherlands
Ministries established in 2024
2024 establishments in the Netherlands | Ministry of Climate Policy and Green Growth | [
"Engineering"
] | 192 | [
"Energy organizations",
"Energy ministries"
] |
77,412,130 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If%20You%20Find%20This%20World%20Bad%2C%20You%20Should%20See%20Some%20of%20the%20Others | "If You Find This World Bad, You Should See Some of the Others", also known as the "Metz speech", is a 1977 speech and essay by science fiction writer Philip K. Dick. He delivered it as the guest of honor on September 24, 1977, at the Second Metz International Science Fiction Festival in Metz, France. Dick prepared his first version of the speech by May of that year, but was asked to deliver a shorter version due to time constraints. The Metz speech, in its shorter form, was recorded on video and was translated to the French audience by an interpreter. Dick's speech lays out his characteristic, yet arcane thoughts on the philosophy of space and time and the concept of alternate universes within a hypothetical multiverse. The speech also discusses Dick's strange and unusual visions from 1974, his interpretation of Christian Gnosticism, and the role of alternate history in his published work.
The speech was not well received. Dick spoke in a monotone voice, the interpreter's transcript differed from Dick's speech due to a last minute rewrite, and the audience was left confused and bewildered. At the time, nobody knew exactly what to make of the speech, as it defied conventional wisdom. Some accused Dick of being under the influence, which may have been true, or even of trying to start his own religion, which was a misunderstanding. Later, some critics argued that Dick had gone insane while writing Valis, which he talks about working on in the speech itself, but this conclusion was heavily debated with no clear resolution one way or the other. Dick himself admitted in the speech that what he was saying was neither provable nor rational. Several years later, he would admit that the speech "made no sense whatever". The speech was subsequently published in print form as an edited essay in French, English, German, and Italian, from 1978 to 1991. The audio portion was first broadcast on the radio in 1978, and again in 1982.
Background
Biographer Paul Williams describes Dick as a "reluctant convention-goer", who would often cancel at the last minute due to illness when he was supposed to appear in public. Dick was living in the East Bay when the 22nd World Science Fiction Convention came to Oakland in 1964. He attended, giving rise to many rumors and legends about his life. Biographer Brian J. Robb notes that "Dick's reputation as a mad, drug-fueled SF prophet emerged almost fully formed from the 1964 WorldCon, and persisted beyond his death." Williams himself would go on to meet Dick for the first time in Berkeley at the 26th World Science Fiction Convention in 1968. In correspondence with Andrew I. Porter, Dick spoke about having attended the 30th World Science Fiction Convention in Los Angeles in September 1972, expressing disappointment with his experience.
His home in Santa Venetia, near San Rafael, California, was burglarized in November 1971, leading him to temporarily leave the U.S. for Canada. With a recommendation from Ursula Le Guin, Dick attended the Vancouver Science Fiction Convention as the guest of honor from February 18–19, 1972, delivering the speech "The Android and the Human". Staying in Canada for an extended period, by March he was despondent and attempted suicide, which he survived, enrolling into a rehabilitation program for a month, and then returning to California. His experience at rehab in Canada would later provide material for his novel A Scanner Darkly (1978). In 1974, Dick was asked to attend the West Coast Science Fantasy Conference as the guest of honor, but declined due to health issues. That same year, he was also asked to be the guest of honor for the future 35th World Science Fiction Convention in 1977, but also declined. In 1975, Dick was scheduled to give the speech "Man, Android and Machine" at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, but never made it due to illness. In his absence, it was published as an essay in Science Fiction at Large (1976).
By the summer of 1977, Dick was suffering from depression due to the lingering effects of his hallucinations from three years prior, the famous February–March 1974 vision, also known as "2-3-74". Dick struggled to adapt the strange experience into a novel, as he still had a Bantam contract to meet, which contributed to additional stress. Several years later, his book A Scanner Darkly was awarded the Graouilly d'Or for Best Novel at the Metz festival when it was published in France in 1979. Dick was invited to attend the International Festival of Science Fiction at Metz for a second time as guest of honor in June 1982, but he died unexpectedly from a stroke in May of that year at the age of 53. Up to that point, Dick had been writing for 30 years, having released 48 novels, more than 100 short stories, and several essays and speeches. At the time of his death, Dick was mostly unknown in the U.S. outside of niche academic and literature communities, but was widely read in Australia, Europe, and Japan.
Invitation and preparation
The first Metz International Science Fiction Festival (Festival International de la Science-Fiction de Metz) took place from May 24–30, 1976, founded by Philippe Hupp, a book reviewer and French translator of Time out of Joint (1959), as well as a columnist for the French version of Galaxy Science Fiction. Building on the momentum from the success of the first festival, Hupp invited Dick on February 23, 1977, to attend the second festival as the guest of honor. Dick accepted on March 17, and responded to Hupp with a brief description of his planned speech. Even though Dick had accepted the invitation, his reputation for not showing up to conferences was well known. Hupp flew to the United States to make the case to Dick in person. They met for lunch at an Italian restaurant near his apartment in Santa Ana, California. Hupp sold him on the festival, explaining exactly how it would work and how Dick would be taken care of during his time in France. At the meeting, Dick gave Hupp an audio cassette of the speech he had already prepared (dated May 21), and they enjoyed a meal over two bottles of red wine. Hupp made note of the fact that Dick appeared to be happy. Acting also as photographer, Hupp captured several notable images of Dick after lunch, including one of him holding his cat and another where he is seen wearing a large, ornate crucifix. On June 27, Dick wrote a letter to Ralph Vicinanza, his New York literary agent, sending him a copy of his planned Metz speech, with the note, "I hope you enjoy the speech; I hope they do, too. Fortunately for me the French make no clear distinction between genius and madness."
Metz International Science Fiction Festival
The second Metz festival took place on September 19–25, 1977. Dick and Joan Simpson flew out to the festival together as a couple. It was one of only three times Dick had left the country. Before leaving for the trip, Dick acquired methamphetamine, one of the last known times he would use hard drugs. Hupp picked them up at the airport in Luxembourg and Dick and Simpson checked into the Sofitel hotel. Dick delivered his speech on September 24 at city hall on the Place d'Armes. The speech was titled "If You Find This World Bad, You Should See Some of the Others".
Writers Harlan Ellison, Roger Zelazny, John Brunner, Harry Harrison, Robert Sheckley, and Fritz Leiber were all in attendance at Metz. Also invited was film producer Gary Kurtz, who was promoting his film Star Wars (1977) in Europe. The film had just been released in May, and it was screened at the festival, although it was in English as the French version had not yet been made. Dick became a huge fan of the film and later claimed that George Lucas was drawing on the same ideas as he was. German musical duo Cluster, just coming off their Cluster & Eno sessions in June, performed live at Metz, with their performance memorialized in the 22-minute recording titled "Festival International de la Science-Fiction, Metz 1977" (2017). Dick remembered his experience in France fondly, describing the 1977 Metz festival as the greatest time of his life. "I think that there at Metz I was really happy for the first time", he recalled, believing that he had finally come home to his people.
Synopsis
Dick proposes that novelists have a lot of ideas to work with, but most of these are meaningless and of no value. And yet, try as they might, over their entire career, a novelist may only come across a few great ideas. Dick argues that the novelist does not find or create these ideas on their own, rather these ideas are like living entities that seek out the novelist to make themselves manifest to the larger world, to history itself. To support this argument, Dick cites the pre-Socratic philosophers, who proposed the cosmos was a thinking entity, as well as theistic ideas found in works related to Indian Vedanta, Spinoza, and Alfred North Whitehead. Dick points to the existence of a hidden, gnostic, God-like figure, citing the Sufi poet Rumi to make his point: "The workman is invisible within the workshop". From this, Dick places these ideas within a continuum of multiple, parallel universes in a lateral axis of time, independent of linear progression, which he admits is absurd and nonsensical, and undermines his own belief in pantheistic monism. More importantly, Dick asks, what kind of changes would people experience if these realities were to be altered? Dick concludes that most people would not notice at all as their memories would adapt to the updated timelines.
Dick explains his original theory on "orthogonal or right-angle time". He presents ideas related to the philosophy of space and time and briefly proposes the existence of alternate universes as a thought experiment in relation to his own personal experiences and published works. Using the extended metaphor of the chessboard, and informed by ideas belonging to mythology and gnostic Christian theology, Dick describes how he believes that many worlds branch off due to a kind of chess game being played that alters the timeline of the "matrix world" by what he calls a "Programmer-Reprogrammer", a god-like entity who maintains an advantage playing against a "dark counterplayer", the personification of evil or death. Dick argues, by way of this metaphor, that the Programmer-Reprogrammer, or god, interferes with the timeline by changing the past to create a better future, and that some people (like himself) can perceive the relics and vestiges of the older timeline or alternate branches by various means, such as writing science fiction (which documents what these other worlds are like), feeling déjà vu, and even religious experience.
Dick explores the idea of alternate history in his own fiction, with works such as The Man in the High Castle, where the Axis powers won World War II instead of the Allies. He also connects this to Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said, his novel about a dystopian police state where people slip into more idealized, alternate worlds. Dick then ties this into Christian theology, arguing that it points to alternate realities itself: the faithful might see the alternate reality of the Kingdom of God, while those who don't will remain in their own alternate reality. Dick believes that Christ taught the method for traversing these alternate worlds, but that it had been lost, although it might be regained once again. To support his idea, Dick cites Isaiah 65, which speaks of the New Earth and the redemption of humanity: "For I am fashioning a new heaven and a new earth, and the memory of the former things will not enter the mind nor come up into the heart." Dick speculates that his fictional work forced people to remember the old timelines that a god-like entity had promised to delete with the creation of better timelines. "And perhaps in my novels and stories", Dick concludes, "I have done wrong to urge you to remember."
Critical reception
Harlan Ellison did not attend Dick's speech, as they had been estranged since 1975 at the time. Ellison recalled that the people who heard the speech "looked like they had been stunned by a ball peen hammer...they thought [Dick] was either drunk or doped". John Brunner, who originally met Dick in 1964 at a party before Worldcon in Oakland, recalled his own confusion on the matter a decade later: "I...failed to figure out how literally [Dick] intended people to regard his claims", wrote Brunner. "I could not decide whether, after so many years of inner suffering, his reason had been usurped by his own inventions, or whether he had reached the bitter conclusion that the only way to cope with our lunatic world was to treat it as one vast and rather vicious joke, and fight back on the same irrational level."
Dick's friend Roger Zelazny, a co-author on the post-apocalyptic science fiction novel Deus Irae (1976), also recalled the confusion of the audience after the speech. At Metz, Zelazny encountered numerous fans engaged in heated arguments over the meaning of the speech. One person told Zelazny that he thought Dick intended to start a new religion with himself as the head of the church. Confused, Zelazny approached Dick to ask him what had happened. Dick explained that he wasn't sure, but he was asked to cut twenty minutes out of the speech, and that the cuts might have led to the French translator using a different version of the speech, contributing to the bewilderment of the audience. Zelazny found the situation comically apropos. "I suddenly felt as if I were in the middle of a Phil Dick story. He had been brought around the world to give a talk, it had been given and now everyone had a different view as to what had been said".
The question of Dick's state of mind was hotly debated, with people like Eric S. Rabkin arguing that Dick had gone insane after writing Valis, while Umberto Rossi argued against the idea. Dick notes in the speech, "I am aware that the claims I am making—claims of having retrieved buried memories of an alternate present and to have perceived the agency responsible for arranging that alteration—these claims can neither be proved nor can they even be made to sound rational in the usual sense of the word."
Several years later, Dick commented on his Metz performance in the essay "The Lucky Dog Pet Store" (1979), which was edited and republished as a new "Introduction" to "The Golden Man" (1980). In the essay, he talks about how the Metz speech "typically, made no sense whatever". "Even the French couldn't understand it, despite a translation", Dick writes. "Something goes haywire in my brain when I write speeches; I think I imagine I'm a reincarnation of Zoroaster bringing news of God. So I try to make as few speeches as possible."
Philosopher Heath Massey believes that the speech addresses one of Dick's most "provocative" ideas about time, the suggestion that we live in many worlds, which Massey compares to the idea of possible worlds discussed in philosophy, as well as metaphysics and theology. Massey compares and contrasts Dick's use of the multiverse with the concept of eternal return, particularly the interpretation used by Friedrich Nietzsche. "Struggling against a world where ordinary people are dominated by impersonal, inhuman forces", writes Massey, "Dick proposes that not only are there many possible futures, but many alternate presents. Those who can imagine or perhaps even perceive them would, like those who affirm the eternal return, be virtually superhuman—not immortal, not omnipotent, but capable of resisting the supposedly inexorable march of time."
In his assessment of the audio-only portion of the speech broadcast on the radio, Richard Wolinsky remarked that Dick's monotonous voice made the speech difficult to understand.
Release
Dick was interviewed several times during the conference. An interview conducted by Uwe Anton and Werner Fuchs was published three times in Germany, followed by its transcription and English publication in SF Eye in 1996. Another Metz interview by Yves Breux and François Luxereau appeared on the BBC in 1994 and on French cable television in 2002. To further commemorate Dick's participation at the conference in Metz, his short story "Explorers We" (1959) was reprinted in French as "Le retour des explorateurs" by Henry-Luc Planchât as a limited edition, 16 page booklet.
A year after Dick delivered his speech, it was published as an essay in French as "Si vous trouvez ce monde mauvais, vous devriez en voir quelques autres" in the work L'année 1977-1978 de la Science-Fiction et du Fantastique. It was later translated into German in 1986 and included in Kosmische Puppen und andere Lebensformen. The Philip K. Dick Society first published the essay in English in 1991, and it was later published in Italian in Se vi pare che questo mondo sia brutto in 1999. The essay was included in the anthology The Shifting Realities of Philip K. Dick by Pantheon Books in 1995, and later by Vintage Books.
The original speech delivered at Metz differs in many ways from the published essay, as some significant points raised (often in relation to a question and answer period) were not based on the initial essay, particularly Dick's comments about the simulation hypothesis, where he says "We are living in a computer-programmed reality, and the only clue we have to it is when some variable is changed, and some alteration in our reality occurs".
A second followup speech, "How To Build A Universe That Doesn't Fall Apart Two Days Later" (1978) was written a year later, but it is unlikely that it was ever delivered to an audience. It was first included in I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon (1985).
Berkeley Pacifica radio station KPFA was allegedly the first to publish, air, and popularize the audio of the Metz speech in 1978, followed by a re-broadcast in 1982.
Notes and references
Notes
References
External links
Philip K. Dick, "conférence de Metz": Video of speech, French National Centre for Scientific Research
Speeches by Philip K. Dick
1977 speeches
Philosophy of time
1977 essays
History of Metz
Fiction about parallel universes | If You Find This World Bad, You Should See Some of the Others | [
"Physics"
] | 3,842 | [
"Spacetime",
"Philosophy of time",
"Physical quantities",
"Time"
] |
77,412,235 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ana%20Maria%20Tavares | Ana Maria Tavares (born 1958) is a Brazilian artist. A 2001 Guggenheim Fellow, she is a critic of modernism and specializes in the intersection of art, architecture and design.
Biography
Ana Maria Tavares was born in 1958 in Belo Horizonte, where she attended high school. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts in 1982 from the School of the Fundação Armando Alvares Penteado. She continued her studies in the United States, where she obtained her Master of Fine Arts from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1986. She returned to Brazil due to the terms of her Fulbright LASPAU Scholarship, and in 2000, she obtained her PhD in art from the University of São Paulo, and she remained there as a professor of art. She was appointed a Guggenheim Fellow in 2001. She was the 2007 Ida Ely Rubin Artist-in-Residence at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
From October 2013 until January 2014, the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville, Tennessee held a solo exhibition, Ana Maria Tavares: Deviating Utopias Opens, where she critiqued the role of Oscar Niemeyer's work in social progress and focused on the perceivedly dystopian nature of large metropolitan areas. Her October to December 2014 exhibition Euryale Amazonica at the Sicardi Gallery was inspired by Victoria amazonica (namely the archaic synonym of the same name), a flower popular among British gardeners in the Victorian England; Emma Hurt of Houstonia said that Tavares and Gabriel de la Mora, who also exhibited alongside her, "presented two different kinds of artwork, but two exhibitions that successfully make viewers think, and look twice. Or more than twice."
Regarding Tavares' August 2018 solo exhibition Rotações Infinitas at Galeria Vermelho in São Paulo, Cynthia Garcia of Newcity Brazil said "it is plain to see why [Tavares] fires up experimentalism not only in her art but also in her students’ minds". Tavares held another solo exhibition at Galleria Continua in Paris, Ana Maria Tavares: Sortir du silence: au-delà de la modernité, from April to June 2023.
As an artist, she works in multimedia art and specializes in the intersection of art, architecture and design. Her artwork criticizes modernism as "an ideological construction with unexpected effects" and draws comparisons between modernist architects with their unorthodox counterparts.
References
1958 births
Living people
Artists from Belo Horizonte
Multimedia artists
Women multimedia artists
School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni
University of São Paulo alumni | Ana Maria Tavares | [
"Technology"
] | 530 | [
"Multimedia",
"Multimedia artists"
] |
77,413,344 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tremella%20parmeliarum | Tremella parmeliarum is a species of lichenicolous (lichen-dwelling) fungus in the family Tremellaceae. Its host is the foliose lichen species Parmotrema reticulatum.
Taxonomy
The fungus was formally described as a new species in 1996 by the Luxembourg mycologist Paul Diederich. The type specimen was collected in Papua New Guinea, specifically in the Madang Province's Huon Peninsula, within the Finisterre Range, Yupna Valley, near Teptep village. The specimen was found growing on Rimelia reticulata and was collected on 30 July 1992 by Diederich, who designated it as the holotype. Since then, the fungus has been reported from several host lichens in the family Parmulariaceae, and was then considered a species complex. Many of these taxa formerly thought to be T. parmeliarum are now considered as independent species that are host-specific. The specific host for Tremella parmeliarum is Parmotrema reticulatum. Close relatives of T. parmeliarum—all of which are lichenicolous—include T. flavoparmeliae, T. puncteliae, T. parmohypotropi, and T. puncteliotegens.
Description
The basidiomata (fruiting bodies) of Tremella parmeliarum are lichenicolous, growing on the of species in the genus Parmotrema. They manifest as superficial, brownish galls that are typically convex, with constricted bases and often lobed or tuberculate features, ranging from 0.4 to 4 mm in diameter. The structure lacks hyphidia. The basidia are 2–4 celled, with longitudinal, oblique, or transverse septa (internal partitions), measuring 12–23 by 5–15 μm. The basidiospores are 5–8 by 4–7 μm. Mature asteroconidia are also present.
Distribution
Tremella parmeliarum has a broad distribution, occurring across various regions. It has been found in Europe, including Ireland and Portugal, and in Macaronesia, with records from the Azores, Canary Islands, and Madeira. In North America, it is present in Mexico and the US, specifically in Alabama, Arkansas, and Virginia. The fungus is also found in Central America, particularly in Panama, and in the Caribbean, including the Dominican Republic. In South America, it has been reported in Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, and Ecuador. Its distribution extends to the Indian Ocean, with a presence in Madagascar, and it is found in Asia, including India and Nepal. Additionally, Tremella parmeliarum occurs in Oceania, including Australia and Papua New Guinea.
References
parmeliarum
Fungus species
Fungi described in 1996
Fungi of Africa
Fungi of Asia
Fungi of Australia
Fungi of New Guinea
Fungi of Europe
Fungi of Macaronesia
Fungi of North America
Fungi of South America
Lichenicolous fungi
Taxa named by Paul Diederich | Tremella parmeliarum | [
"Biology"
] | 634 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
77,413,647 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South%20America%20Galaxy | The South America Galaxy, also known as LEDA 69877 and IRAS 22491-1808, is a merging pair of ultraluminous infrared galaxies located in the constellation Aquarius. It is estimated to be 1.045 million light-years from the Milky Way and about 90,000 light-years in diameter. The object is moving away from the Solar System with a calculated radial velocity of approximately 23.300 kilometers per second.
The galaxy got its nickname due to its physical resemblance to the continent of South America. The galaxy was selected as ESA/HUBBLE's picture of the week on 10 June 2013.
In the complex central region of the galaxy, scientists have been able to distinguish two nuclei, remains of the two different galaxies that are currently colliding. IRAS 22491-1808 is among the most luminous of these types of galaxies, and is considered to be mid-way through its merging stage.
According to a study published in 2017, the mass of the molecular gas outflow in IRAS 22491-1808 is estimated to be MH2(hot)~ 6−8 × 103 M⊙. Notable, it also shows lack of polarization.
See also
Lists of galaxies
External links
Image at ESA/HUBBLE
References
Aquarius (constellation)
Galaxy mergers
069877
Luminous infrared galaxies
IRAS catalogue objects
069877 | South America Galaxy | [
"Astronomy"
] | 283 | [
"Constellations",
"Aquarius (constellation)"
] |
77,413,856 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%20633 | NGC 633 is a large barred spiral galaxy located in the constellation Sculptor. Its speed relative to the cosmic microwave background is 4,979 ± 18 km/s, which corresponds to a Hubble distance of 73.4 ± 5.2 Mpc (∼239 million ly). NGC 633 was discovered by British astronomer John Herschel in 1834.
The luminosity class of NGC 633 is II and it has a broad HI line. It also contains regions of ionized hydrogen.
The smaller galaxy to the south of NGC 633 is PGC 5959 or ESO 297-012, and these two galaxies form a galactic pair. The Hubble distance of ESO 297-012 is 73.51 ± 5.15, which is almost identical to that of NGC 633, confirming that both galaxies are in gravitational interaction. A contrast-enhanced image shows a bridge of matter between these two galaxies.
See also
List of NGC objects (1–1000)
External links
NGC 633 at NASA/IPAC
NGC 633 at SIMBAD
NGC 633 at SEDS
NGC 633 at LEDA
NGC 633 at WikiSky
NGC 633 at Seligman
References
0633
Discoveries by John Herschel
Sculptor (constellation)
Barred spiral galaxies | NGC 633 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 257 | [
"Constellations",
"Sculptor (constellation)"
] |
78,873,974 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol%20Robinson | Dame Carol Vivien Robinson (born 10 April 1956) is a British chemist and former president of the Royal Society of Chemistry (2018–2020). She was a Royal Society Research Professor and is the Dr Lee's Professor of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, and a professorial fellow at Exeter College, University of Oxford. She is the founding director of the Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery, University of Oxford, and she was previously professor of mass spectrometry at the chemistry department of the University of Cambridge.
Early life and education
Born in Kent, the daughter of Denis E. Bradley and Lillian (née Holder), Carol Vivien Bradley left school at 16 and began her career as a lab technician in Sandwich, Kent with Pfizer, where she began working with the then novel technique of mass spectrometry.
Her potential was spotted, and she gained further qualifications at evening classes and day release from her job at Pfizer. After earning her degree, she left Pfizer and studied for a Master of Science degree at the University of Swansea, followed by a Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge, which she completed in just two years. During this time she was a student at Churchill College, Cambridge.
Career and research
After a postdoctoral training fellowship at the University of Bristol, Robinson took up a junior position in the mass spectrometry unit at the University of Oxford, where she began analysing protein folding. Robinson and colleagues successfully captured protein folding in the presence of the chaperone GroEL, demonstrating that at least some aspects of protein secondary structure could be studied in the gas phase.
Robinson has broken ground as the first woman professor in the department of chemistry at both the University of Cambridge (2001) and the University of Oxford (2009). Her research has pushed the limits of electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, demonstrating that proteins and other complex macromolecules can be studied in the gas phase. In addition to her contributions to the study of protein folding, Robinson has conducted important work on ribosomes, molecular chaperones and most recently membrane proteins. Her research has made seminal contributions to gas-phase structural biology, with progress toward the study of protein complexes in their native environments for drug discovery. Additionally, she is a co-founder of OMass Therapeutics, a University of Oxford spin-out company applying mass spectrometry technology to drug discovery.
Honours and awards
Robinson was awarded the American Society for Mass Spectrometry's Biemann Medal in 2003, and the Christian B. Anfinsen Award in 2008. In 2004 the Royal Society awarded her both a Fellowship (FRS) and the Rosalind Franklin Award. Her nomination for the Royal Society reads:
Distinguished for her research on the application of mass spectrometry to problems in chemical biology. She has used mass spectrometry to define the folding and binding of interacting proteins in large complexes. Most importantly, she has established that macromolecular complexes such as GroEL, ribosomes, and intact virus capsids can be generated in the gas phase and their electrospray mass spectra recorded. This work has demonstrated the power of mass spectrometry in studying very large complexes and allowed her to define changes in their conformation and the manner of their assembly.
In 2010 Robinson received the Davy Medal "for her ground-breaking and novel use of mass spectrometry for the characterisation of large protein complexes".
In 2011 she was given the Interdisciplinary Prize by the Royal Society of Chemistry for "development of a new area of research, gas-phase structural biology, using highly refined mass spectrometry techniques", the Aston Medal, and the FEBS/EMBO Women in Science Award.
She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to science and industry.
She received the Thomson Medal Award in 2014.
In 2015 she was a laureate of the L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Awards; "For her groundbreaking work in macromolecular mass spectrometry and pioneering gas phase structural biology by probing the structure and reactivity of single proteins and protein complexes, including membrane proteins."
In 2017 she was elected a Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences.
In 2018 she won the Frank H. Field and Joe L. Franklin Award for Outstanding Achievement in Mass Spectrometry from the American Chemical Society.
In 2019 she won the Novozymes Prize for "almost single-handedly founding a subfield of mass spectrometry proteomics". Also in 2019 she received the Royal Medal.
In 2020, she was chosen as the recipient of the Othmer Gold Medal.
In 2021 she received the 2022 Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine. and the 2022 European Chemistry Gold Medal by the European Chemical Society. Also in 2021, she became an International Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
In 2022 she was awarded the Franklin Institute Award for Chemistry.
In 2023 she was elected to the American Philosophical Society and was awarded the John B. Fenn Award for Distinguished Contribution to Mass Spectrometry. She was named one of the top ten "Innovators and Trailbalzers" on the 2023 Power List by the Analytical Scientist.
In 2024, she received the EPO European Inventor Lifetime Achievement Award for her work in mass spectrometry that significantly advanced biochemical research and medical diagnostics. On June 19, 2024, she received an honorary doctorate from the University of Cambridge in recognition of her achievements in chemistry.
She has been awarded 13 honorary doctorates including the Weizmann Institute of Science, Aarhus University Denmark, University of Kent, the University of York, and the University of Bristol.
References
External links
(See Denis Noble.)
(interview conducted by Erick M. Carreira)
1956 births
Living people
British chemists
Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Female fellows of the Royal Society
Fellows of Churchill College, Cambridge
Fellows of the Royal Society
Place of birth missing (living people)
British women chemists
Academics of the University of Oxford
Fellows of Exeter College, Oxford
Alumni of Swansea University
Alumni of Churchill College, Cambridge
Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom)
Dr Lee's Professors of Chemistry
Rhodes Trustees
L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science laureates
21st-century British women scientists
Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences
Presidents of the Royal Society of Chemistry
Thomson Medal recipients
Mass spectrometrists
Benjamin Franklin Medal (Franklin Institute) laureates | Carol Robinson | [
"Physics",
"Chemistry"
] | 1,343 | [
"Biochemists",
"Mass spectrometry",
"Spectrum (physical sciences)",
"Mass spectrometrists"
] |
78,874,466 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William%20S.D.%20Louey%20Educational%20Foundation | The William S.D. Louey Educational Foundation is a philanthropic organization dedicated to providing educational opportunities for talented but underprivileged students, primarily from China and Hong Kong. The William S.D. Louey Educational Foundation is named in honor of William Sui-tak Louey.
Founder
William Louey, the founder of the William S.D. Louey Educational Foundation, is a businessman and Director of the Kowloon Motor Bus Company (KMB). He established the foundation in 1995 to honor his grandfather, William Sui-tak Louey, and to provide educational opportunities for talented but underprivileged students.
In 1999, William Louey joined the China Oxford Scholarship Fund committee. In recognition of his and the foundation's contributions, he was appointed to the University of Oxford's Vice-Chancellor's Circle in 2011. In 2013, the University of Oxford awarded William Louey the Elizabeth Wordsworth Fellowship in recognition of his contribution to UK higher education.
William Louey promotes education to support personal growth and community development. He believes in the value of knowledge and the importance of helping to develop future leaders.
Activity
The William S.D. Louey Educational Foundation provides scholarships and support to talented students from mainland China who may not otherwise have access to top-tier education. The foundation emphasizes a "pay-it-forward" philosophy, encouraging its scholars to give back to their communities and support future generations of students.
The Foundation provides financial assistance to students from China, enabling them to study in reputed international institutions such as the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge in the UK, and MIT and Harvard University in the US. The foundation's support extends beyond financial assistance and provides mentorship and guidance throughout the scholars' academic and professional development, ensuring success. Its founder William Louey continues to maintain close relationships with past scholars.
The scholarship is recognized for promoting long-term community engagement and fostering educational opportunities for students from China and Hong Kong. Many past scholarship recipients have since become mentors and contributors to similar initiatives, aiming to support future students in their academic and professional journeys.
Since its founding, the foundation has provided over $60 million in scholarships to more than 60 students, enabling them to study in the United States, the United Kingdom, and other countries. The foundation has recently expanded its reach to support students from other regions.
Pay-It-Forward Philosophy
The foundation is built on a pay-it-forward philosophy, encouraging scholars to give back to their communities and help future students. The recipients embraced this principle by mentoring others, supporting scholarships, or contributing to similar programs.
In 2015, a group of former scholars launched the Pay It Forward Scholarship, which has supported 12 students at the University of Oxford. The foundation continues to support this approach by offering mentorship and guidance, fostering a culture of giving back and ensuring the long-term impact of its work on education and community development.
References
Educational foundations
Organizations established in 1993
Scholarships in China
Non-profit organisations based in Hong Kong
Foundations based in China
Charities
Philanthropy
Education in China
Education in Hong Kong | William S.D. Louey Educational Foundation | [
"Biology"
] | 621 | [
"Philanthropy",
"Behavior",
"Altruism"
] |
78,874,803 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hao%20%28length%29 | The Hao () in Mandarin, or hou in Cantonese, is a traditional Chinese unit of length. One hao equals 1/10 of a li, 1/10000 of a chi, or 33+1⁄3 μm.
Chinese length units promulgated in 1915
Present law on Chinese length units
This law of length measurement was issued by the Chinese government in 1929, and has been effective since 1 January, 1930. The base unit chi is defined to be 1/3 meter.
Chinese length units in engineering
These units are based on the metric system. The Chinese word for metre is mǐ, which can take the Chinese standard SI prefixes (for "kilo-", "centi-", etc.).
In the engineering field, traditional units are rounded up to metric units.
Compounds
絲毫 (sīháo)
一絲一毫 (yīsīyīháo)
差之毫釐，謬以千里 (chāzhīháolí, miùyǐqiānlǐ)
See also
Li (short)
Chinese units of measurement
References
Units of length
Customary units of measurement | Hao (length) | [
"Mathematics"
] | 224 | [
"Quantity",
"Customary units of measurement",
"Units of measurement",
"Units of length"
] |
78,876,257 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ArcGIS%20Urban | ArcGIS Urban is a commercial urban planning application developed by the Esri R&D Center Zurich, designed to support urban planners, architects, and stakeholders in managing urban development projects, visualizing future growth, and evaluating the impact of planning decisions.
The application allows users to model their city in 3D, and study plans and projects in the context of zoning and land-use regulations, as well as custom metrics such as population, energy use and fiscal implications.
Releases
Web application
ArcGIS Urban is released as a web application that can be used with Esri's cloud platform, ArcGIS Online, or hosted on-premise with Esri's ArcGIS Enterprise solution.
ArcGIS online version
The first version of ArcGIS Urban was announced in 2018, and released on 1 July 2019 for ArcGIS Online. The ArcGIS online version of ArcGIS Urban releases new versions 3 times per year, with the latest version released in December 2024.
Esri enterprise version
On May 23, 2024, ArcGIS Urban was released as part of ArcGIS Enterprise 11.3, enabling users to host the application and data on-premise instead of on the cloud.
API
ArcGIS Urban also has a GraphQL API, which enables users to manage all the data in the application programmatically. The first version of the Urban API was released on 29 June 2022.
Integrations with Other Products
3D meshes that are created from LiDAR data, drone footage and aerial imagery using ArcGIS Reality can be used in ArcGIS Urban to visualise plans and projects with a more realistic context.
Plans that are created in ArcGIS Urban can also be opened in CityEngine, where more detailed urban design work can be done.
References
External Links
Product Page
Application Page
Release Notes
Esri software
GIS software
Urban planning | ArcGIS Urban | [
"Engineering"
] | 364 | [
"Urban planning",
"Architecture"
] |
78,877,767 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GAGG%3ACe | Cerium-doped gadolinium aluminium gallium garnet (GAGG:Ce) is a single-crystal ceramic scintillator material. It is being considered for applications in astrophysics, such as in high-energy gamma ray detection.
References
Ceramics
Luminescent minerals
Gallium compounds
Gadolinium compounds | GAGG:Ce | [
"Chemistry"
] | 68 | [
"Luminescence",
"Phosphors and scintillators"
] |
78,879,787 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SPT-320 | SPT-320, also formerly known as LYT-320, is a prodrug of agomelatine which is under development for the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders, for instance generalized anxiety disorder.
As an agomelatine prodrug, it acts as a melatonin receptor agonist and as a serotonin 5-HT2B and 5-HT2C receptor antagonist. The drug is taken by mouth and is said to bypass first-pass hepatic metabolism.
As of December 2023, SPT-320 is in the preclinical research phase of development. It is under development by Seaport Therapeutics and is being developed towards approval in the United States. The chemical structure of SPT-320 does not yet appear to have been disclosed.
References
5-HT2B antagonists
5-HT2C antagonists
Drugs with undisclosed chemical structures
Experimental antidepressants
Experimental anxiolytics
Melatonin receptor agonists
Phenethylamines
Prodrugs | SPT-320 | [
"Chemistry"
] | 214 | [
"Melatonin receptor agonists",
"Prodrugs",
"Drug discovery",
"Chemicals in medicine"
] |
78,880,339 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yin%20%28length%29 | The Yin () in Mandarin, or jan in Cantonese, is a traditional Chinese unit of length. One yin equals 1/15 of a li, 10 zhang, or 33+1⁄3 m in China.
Chinese length units promulgated in 1915
Present law on Chinese length units
This law of length measurement was issued by the Chinese government in 1929, and has been effective since 1 January, 1930. The base unit chi is defined to be 1/3 meter.
Chinese length units in engineering
These units are based on the metric system. The Chinese word for metre is mǐ, which can take the Chinese standard SI prefixes (for "kilo-", "centi-", etc.).
In the engineering field, traditional units are rounded up to metric units.
See also
Zhang (unit)
Chinese units of measurement
References
Units of length
Customary units of measurement | Yin (length) | [
"Mathematics"
] | 177 | [
"Quantity",
"Customary units of measurement",
"Units of measurement",
"Units of length"
] |
78,880,460 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SB-221284 | SB-221284 is a selective serotonin 5-HT2C and 5-HT2B receptor antagonist which is used in scientific research.
Its affinities (Ki) are 2.2 to 2.5nM for the serotonin 5-HT2C receptor, 2.5 to 12.6nM for the serotonin 5-HT2B receptor, and 398 to 550nM for the serotonin 5-HT2A receptor (where it is also an antagonist). The drug has 160- to 250-fold selectivity for the serotonin 5-HT2C receptor over the serotonin 5-HT2A receptor. It is said to have been the first serotonin 5-HT2C receptor ligand to show 100-fold selectivity over the serotonin 5-HT2A receptor.
SB-221284 has shown anxiolytic-like effects in animals. Conversely, it has been said to be inactive in terms of antidepressant-like, antiobsessional-like, antipanic-like, and sedative effects. It also showed no proconvulsant or hyperphagic effects in animals, phenotypes that are notably observed with serotonin 5-HT2C receptor knockout.
The preferential serotonin 5-HT2C receptor agonist meta-chlorophenylpiperazine (mCPP) and the serotonin reuptake inhibitor fluoxetine have been found to acutely reduce social interaction in rodents. SB-221284 was found to reverse the acute decreases in social interaction produced by mCPP and fluoxetine. The drug has also been found to block mCPP-induced hypolocomotion. Both SB-221284 and the selective serotonin 5-HT2C receptor antagonist SB-242084 have been found to enhance the nucleus accumbens dopamine release and hyperlocomotion induced by NMDA receptor antagonists like phencyclidine (PCP) and dizocilpine (MK-801). Conversely, both drugs had no effect on locomotor activity or dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens by themselves. However, another study reported that SB-221284 by itself did enhance locomotion.
SB-221284 was first described in the scientific literature by 1996. It was researched by GlaxoSmithKline as a possible non-sedating anxiolytic and reached the preclinical research stage of development. However, it was found to be a potent inhibitor of a number of human cytochrome P450 enzymes (particularly CYP1A2), which precluded further development of the drug. Other sources have stated that SB-221284 was not further developed due to "toxicity" and that other drugs were pursued instead as SB-221284 was a "fairly weak" serotonin 5-HT2C receptor antagonist.
References
5-HT2B antagonists
5-HT2C antagonists
Abandoned drugs
Carboxamides
Indolines
Thioethers
3-Pyridyl compounds
Trifluoromethyl compounds
Ureas | SB-221284 | [
"Chemistry"
] | 689 | [
"Organic compounds",
"Ureas",
"Drug safety",
"Abandoned drugs"
] |
78,881,334 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SN%201999by | SN 1999by was a peculiar Type Ia supernova event in the spiral galaxy NGC 2841, located in the northern constellation of Ursa Major. It was one of the most subluminous supernovae of this type ever observed.
Observations
This supernova was independently reported by R. Arbour of South Wonston, England, and by the Lick Observatory Supernova Search team. It was discovered on CCD images taken April 30, 1999. Located in the flocculent spiral galaxy NGC 2841, which had hosted three previous supernova events, it was positioned North and West of the galactic center. SN 1999by was identified as a Type Ia supernova on May 2, but the peculiar spectrum suggested it was subluminous. It achieved maximum light on May 11, reaching an apparent visual magnitude of 13.10.
Based on the distance to this galaxy, the peak absolute magnitude of this supernova was −17.12 (V), which is underluminous by about 2.5 magnitudes compared to a typical Type Ia supernova. It also showed a more rapid decline in brightness, one of the steepest declines observed. Polarization measurements showed evidence for intrinsic polarization, the first such finding for a subluminous Type Ia supernova. Geometrically, this indicated that the supernova had an axis of symmetry, which can be modeled by asphericity of about 20% seen along the equator. There are several possible explanations for this, including rapid rotation of the progenitor white dwarf, or the merger of two degenerate white dwarfs.
References
Further reading
Supernovae
Ursa Major | SN 1999by | [
"Chemistry",
"Astronomy"
] | 334 | [
"Supernovae",
"Ursa Major",
"Astronomical events",
"Constellations",
"Explosions"
] |
78,881,606 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noyes%20Armillary%20Sphere | The Noyes Armillary Sphere is a bronze armillary sphere located in Meridian Hill Park, a urban park in Washington, D.C. It was the fifth artwork installed in the park and was designed by sculptor C. Paul Jennewein, whose other works in the city include the Darlington Memorial Fountain and 57 sculptural elements at the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building. Artist Bertha Noyes donated $15,000 toward the project's cost in honor of her deceased sister, Edith. The sphere is sited in the park's exedra, south of the Cascading Waterfall and reflecting pool. It rests on a granite pedestal designed by Horace Peaslee, an architect who oversaw construction of Meridian Hill Park.
Jennewein completed his design of the sculpture in 1931 and a bill accepting it on behalf of the United States was signed into law by President Herbert Hoover the following year. After the sphere was founded by the Roman Bronze Works company, it remained in New York because of delays in installing the foundation. The sphere was finally dedicated in 1936. During the next few decades, the sphere and some of the park's other sculptures were damaged. In 1973, the sphere was removed by the National Park Service (NPS) and placed in a storage facility, where it was either stolen or misplaced. In 2018, the NPS announced an exact replica would be installed in the park. Using old drawings and photographs, Kreilick Conservation LLC created the new sphere which was installed in 2024.
History
Planning
Meridian Hill Park is a urban park in Washington, D.C., located between 15th, 16th, Euclid, and W Streets NW. It was built between 1914 and 1936 as part of the City Beautiful movement and at the behest of Mary Foote Henderson, an activist and real estate developer whose mansion overlooked the park. The park was originally planned by landscape architect George Burnap, but after he left the project, architect Horace Peaslee oversaw its completion. Plans for the park included spaces for public art installations. During the 1920s, the Dante Alighieri, Joan of Arc, and Serenity statues were dedicated. A fourth installation, a memorial to President James Buchanan, was dedicated in 1930.
Plans for a fifth art installation in the park was headed by Charles Moore, a city planner who served as chairman of the United States Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) from 1915 to 1937. Inspired by Paul Manship's Cochran Armillary located on the campus of Phillips Academy in Massachusetts, CFA member and landscape architect Ferruccio Vitale suggested an armillary sphere be installed on the southern end of the park, below the Cascading Waterfall and reflecting pool. Chinese astronomers invented armillary spheres around 200 BC. The spheres map celestial objects by using rings to represent principal circles of the heavens.
After Moore was informed of the estimated $30,000 cost of Manship's design, the commission was given to sculptor C. Paul Jennewein, whose design was based on the one by Manship. Examples of Jennewein's works in Washington, D.C., are the Darlington Memorial Fountain in Judiciary Square, 57 sculptural elements at the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building, and two statues at the Rayburn House Office Building. Peaslee was selected to design the sphere's pedestal. Artist Bertha Noyes paid $15,000 of the project cost in memory of her sister, Edith Noyes, who was an invalid and had died in 1925.
Production and installation
By 1931, Jennewein had completed sculpting the sphere. Due to a limited budget, Jennewein's suggestion that the bronze sculpture be fire gilded and "burnished to a bright color" did not occur. Following its passage in the United States House of Representatives, a resolution to accept the sculpture on behalf of the country was passed by the United States Senate Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds on May 12, 1932. After Congress passed the final bill on June 10, 1932, to accept the sculpture and approve its location, President Herbert Hoover signed the bill into law. In December 1933, CFA members traveled to Brooklyn to assess the sculpture's progress at the Roman Bronze Works company. The founding process had taken 14 months and cost $2,800. Although the sphere was ready to be transported to Washington, D.C., there were delays in installing the foundation at the park and the sphere remained in New York.
It wasn't until spring 1935 that the foundation was installed, followed by the sphere a few months later. The total cost of the project was $31,199. Work continued on the sphere through the following year. After the inscription "Given to the Federal City, MCMXXXVI, for Edith Noyes" was engraved, the sphere was dedicated on November 10, 1936. A bronze calibration plaque, located on a cast iron post by the sphere, was later installed to correct errors with time precision. Decorative armillary spheres were added on top of the wrought-iron fence located on the north end of the park.
Removal and replacement
The sphere and some of the other artworks in the park were sometimes vandalized. The sword on the Joan of Arc statue was stolen, pieces of the Serenity statue were removed by hammers, and the sphere was used as a jungle gym by children. In addition to the damage children did to the sphere, it was possibly vandalized during the 1968 Washington, D.C., riots. In 1973, the sphere was removed by the National Park Service (NPS), which has administered Meridian Hill Park since 1933. The NPS placed the sphere in storage to prevent further damage. Plans were made to repair the sphere, but at some point, it was either stolen or misplaced. The sphere's putto sculpture and the calibration plaque had also been removed, but were accounted for at a storage facility in Landover, Maryland. The only remaining piece left in the park was the pedestal, which was hidden behind overgrown hedges. The putto, calibration plaque, and pedestal were designated contributing properties to Meridian Hill Park's listing as a National Historic Landmark.
In 1985, the Historic American Buildings Survey program released a report on Meridian Hill Park, which included details of the missing sphere. This brought attention to its fate, and a few years later, a NPS employee suggested a facsimile be made. The estimated cost of this replica was between $48,000 and $90,000, but due to a lack of funding, the plan did not come to fruition at that time. In the 1990s, NPS official John Parsons offered support for a replica "on its original base to the exact historic scale, design, and specifications". It wasn't until 2004 that a full-scale aluminum mock-up costing $8,840 was made. It too was placed in a Maryland storage facility because the aluminum would have been unsuitable for inclement weather. The NPS announced in 2018 that restorations would be made to Meridian Hill Park beginning the following year. One of these improvements would be a replica of the sphere being installed thanks to a donation by Roger and Susan Gendron. Based on original drawings and photographs of the sphere, Kreilick Conservation LLC used techniques including computer numerical control and 3D modeling to create a replica. The new sphere was installed in November 2024.
Location and design
The sphere is located in the park's exedra, south of the Cascading Waterfall and reflecting pool. It stands on the Washington meridian that passes through the White House. A wrought iron fence and bushes surround the sphere. It rests on an octagonal green granite pedestal which is tall and features heavy molding. The sphere measures tall, wide, and in circumference. It weighs between and . The sculpture's pedestal features a bronze putto called "Child Greeting the Sun". The winged figure, which is around 18 in (0.46 m) tall and faces south, represents the "birth of each new day". The bronze sphere resembles a celestial globe and is composed of rings inscribed with reliefs. The two largest rings represent the Meridian and Equator. The equatorial ring features reliefs of astrological signs on the exterior. On the interior are stars representing nighttime hours and Roman numerals representing hours of the day. A third ring represents the ecliptic plane and intersects with the larger rings. There is a small ring on both the north and south sides of the sphere, representing the North and South Poles. A gnomon arrow that is facing north represents the Earth's axis and casts a shadow on the equatorial ring, allowing visitors to know the local time.
Notes
See also
List of public art in Washington, D.C., Ward 1
Outdoor sculpture in Washington, D.C.
References
1936 establishments in Washington, D.C.
1936 sculptures
2024 establishments in Washington, D.C.
2024 sculptures
Astronomical instruments
Bronze sculptures in Washington, D.C.
Meridian Hill/Malcolm X Park
Monuments and memorials in Washington, D.C.
Outdoor sculptures in Washington, D.C. | Noyes Armillary Sphere | [
"Astronomy"
] | 1,869 | [
"Astronomical instruments"
] |
78,881,676 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YaneuraOu | ) is a free and open source shogi engine. Being one of the first shogi engines to implement an efficiently updatable neural network, it won the 29th annual World Shogi Computer Championship in 2019. It supports the Universal Shogi Interface communication protocol (a dialect of the Universal Chess Interface used by most chess engines), which gives it compatibility with most shogi programs. Lishogi, an open source online shogi server, primarily uses YaneuraOu for its analysis and AI opponent features.
See also
elmo (shogi engine), which uses YaneuraOu's search functions
List of shogi software#Engines
Further reading
やねうら王 on Japanese Wikipedia
References
External links
Official X account
Official YouTube channel | YaneuraOu | [
"Technology"
] | 150 | [
"Computing stubs",
"Software stubs"
] |
78,881,712 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Si%20%28length%29 | Si () is a traditional Chinese unit of length. One si is equal to 1/10 of a hao, 1/100 000 of a chi, or 3+1⁄3 μm. In the field of engineering, one si equals 10 μm.
Present law on Chinese length units
This law of length measurement was issued by the Chinese government in 1929, and has been effective since 1 January, 1930. The base unit chi is defined to be 1/3 meter.
Metric length units
These units are based on the metric system. The Chinese word for metre is mǐ, which can take the Chinese standard SI prefixes (for "kilo-", "centi-", etc.).
In the engineering field, traditional units are rounded up to metric units.
Compounds
絲毫 (sīháo)
一絲一毫 (yīsīyīháo)
一絲不苟
一絲 希望／一丝 希望 ― yī sī xīwàng ― a glimmer of hope.
See also
Hao (length)
Chinese units of measurement
References
Units of length
Customary units of measurement | Si (length) | [
"Mathematics"
] | 224 | [
"Quantity",
"Customary units of measurement",
"Units of measurement",
"Units of length"
] |
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